


Simply Meant To Be

by Purplegirl123



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Bad Jokes, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Smut, I'm Bad At Tagging, Jokes, M/M, Magic, Past Bill Weasley/Original Female Character, Past Charlie Weasley/Original Female Character, Past Child Abuse, Past Relationship(s), Past Violence, Romance, Soulmates, Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:20:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 26,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23935990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purplegirl123/pseuds/Purplegirl123
Summary: It’s been three years since the end of the war with Voldemort and things were going just fine for Josephine Elara Black. Now that another year of teaching at Hogwarts had finally ended, she was looking forward to relaxing during the summer break along with researching her book. Now, if only fate was on her side…**Gifs and Pictures in here are not mine, I found them on the internet**
Relationships: Bill Weasley & Original Female Character(s), Charlie Weasley & Original Female Character(s), Remus Lupin & Severus Snape, Remus Lupin/Original Female Character(s), Severus Snape/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 14





	1. Friendship and Firewhisky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! This is my FIRST Fanfiction! I really hope you like it! I made it because I have read a bunch of Severus and Remus fics but not many where they were together so I thought I would write it myself since I couldn’t get them out of my head. I’m not sure how many chapters it will be but I will do my best to regularly update.
> 
> There are people alive in my story that didn’t survive the book because… I do what I want.
> 
> Also just a heads up that there are references to child abuse, violence, and war but I will do my best to give you a heads up in the notes.
> 
> I would absolutely love it if you could please leave feedback and let me know if I should add anything, take it in a certain direction, or any other helpful tidbits! I know where I want it to end up but getting there is another story.

****

**June 24, 2001**

“I’m going… to fucking… kill him….” Jo growled as the alarm on her wand went off, blaring some stupid song Sirius had set it to. _‘Oh for the love of Merlin, is that Jungle Boogie? What is wrong with him?! How does he even know about that song?’_ Grabbing her wand and turning off the alarm she stares at the ceiling trying to wake up a bit more before shuffling over to the shower.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes and stretching she slowly pulled herself out of bed. Her room in Grimmauld Place brightened immensely as she opened the curtains with a flick of her wand. Instead of the dull green walls with black furnishings that had been there when she had first arrived, she looked around at her beautiful smoky gray walls, with iron furnishings and accents of navy, yellow, and white throughout the room. Sirius made sure that she would want for nothing, furnishing it with a fireplace, desk, bookshelves, a large closet, and of course her own on suite bathroom.

Jo stripped off her black teddy and padded over to the bathroom. Looking around she smiled to herself, thankful for how lucky she was to be here. While she adored her room, her bathroom was a masterpiece in and of itself. It was huge. Sirius had to have put an extension charm on it because not only did it fit her toilet and his/her sink but it also had a bathtub that was made for _at least_ four people and a shower that was in a long space with jets and shower heads all over. It was magnificent.

She flicked her wand at the shower and placed her wand on the sink while the shower heads started spraying out hot steamy water. As she walks in she lets the water sooth over her head and down her body. Using the time to not only get ready for her day but to think back on all that has happened in the last few years.

After the war Jo, like many of the other members of the Order of the Phoenix, helped with the rebuilding of Hogwarts. The school had sustained an immense amount of damage and it was all hands on deck. They worked tirelessly throughout that summer fixing the building, refurnishing various rooms, recasting charms throughout the school, and finally recasting the school wards to secure the safety of those within. It had taken so long to get things back in order that school was postponed that year until October.

That summer as the work continued, trials for all the followers of Voldemort and funerals for those people fallen took place. There were two big shake ups that no one could have predicted when it came to the trials of Deatheaters.

The first took place when Harry Potter had divulged what Severus Snape had done for the wizarding world. To say it shocked the wizarding community would be an understatement. However, Potter had given the pensive memories to the Wizengamot and with the testimony of Albus Dumbledore’s portrait there was more an enough evidence to prove that Severus had always been on the side of the light.

The second set of shocking news came from the Malfoy’s. Lucius Malfoy, along with Narcissa and Draco, had been on the side of the light since Voldemort’s return. But it took a lot of time and every last piece of evidence to convince the wizarding world and the Wizengamot of their allegiance. Luckily for the Malfoy’s they had a failsafe on their side, the future minister. Kingsley Shacklebolt had been told by Dumbledore himself that Lucius was his spy at Voldemort’s side and Draco was keeping an eye on the Death Eater’s children. With his testimony their allegiance was proven, saving the Malfoy’s from Azkaban.

The other Death Eaters were not so lucky. Once their guilt was found, they were offered two choices as punishment to the world they had tainted. Stripped of their magic, possessions and money, they would be obliviated and sent to the muggle world to live the rest of their days. Or receive The Kiss. All chose the latter, coming as no surprise to anyone.

Funerals for students and adults who had fallen on either side of the war were almost a daily occurrence. The entire month of May was filled with funerals to attend. It was during the funerals that Jo had forged a closer friendship to Sirius Black. While Jo knew Sirius from the Order and had even stayed at Grimmauld Place on several occasions, they were merely acquaintances at the time.

It started at Remus’ funeral reception only a week after the war. She had stopped by to express how sorry she was that he had lost his friend. They spoke softly of the man and how he would have hated his own funeral because of the fuss and the crowed. It was a quick conversation but ended with an embrace and a promise to keep in touch. Five minutes later Sirius received a rather large Firewhisky from a waiter but when he tried to thank the man for reading his mind, he was told that the woman leaving down the path had ordered it for him. He looked over and saw the retreating form of Jo walking away.

And so it began. A friendship built on funerals and Firewhisky.

The end of August brought about a drastic change in their friendship. Sirius was alone and he hated it. Originally after the war he had been kept company by The Golden Trio: Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They were all staying there while they figured out what the next step in their lives would be and Sirius loved every second of having them there. He gave them advice, helped them deal with their grief and trauma from the war, and reminded them that it was okay to have fun again. But as the summer drew to a close the three young adults had made up their minds and left Grimmauld along with the master of the house behind.

Jo had stopped at the Leaky Cauldron for a drink and a quick dinner but what she got was a piss drunk Sirius Black. After assuring Tom that she would look after him the tiny witch heaved Sirius over to the fireplace and Floo’d him straight home. Unfortunately for Sirius, she wasn’t that strong and he was so much bigger than her that when they stumbled out of the Floo she promptly lost her grip and he slammed to the ground. Thankfully the drunken arse was so out of it that he just went to sleep right there on the floor. She levitated Sirius onto the couch and tucked him in for the night. In the kitchen she found a hangover potion and fixed a large glass of water which she placed on the table in front of him. Summoning another blanket for herself, she tucked into the love seat and fell fast asleep watching the fire die out.

In the morning, after Sirius had taken his hangover potion and downed the glass of water, Jo made them a huge breakfast and with some not so gentle prodding finally got Sirius to talk about what was bothering him. He explained that he was lonely without anyone here, with Remus dead and the kids gone, he felt like he had no one. Jo sympathized with him and told Sirius that on top of helping rebuild the school, she had been packing up her grandfather’s home and settling his will as he had passed away a short time after the final battle. His will explicitly stated that she was not allowed to live in the house but use the funds of the sale along with her inheritance to start a new life. The only problem was she didn’t know where to go and with no other family to speak of she was also feeling like she was all alone.

It took Sirius about two seconds after her story to tell her to move in with him. Explaining that this would give her a place to live and both of them would have the company of a roommate. While she was hesitant at first, Sirius wore her down and by that afternoon he was helping her move her things into either storage or her new bedroom at Grimmauld Place. Her grandfather’s house was sold shortly after and his will settled leaving her with a nice little fortune.

The two decided that they needed to figure out their futures, not together mind you, they didn’t have any romantic feelings for each other, but they needed to figure out what they were going to do with themselves now that the fear of death wasn’t constantly over them.

The first thing that had to happen was that their living space needed a _major_ update. Sirius had suggested that they just torch the place and he buy a new house for them but Jo promptly squashed that idea down. She persuaded Sirius to remodel Grimmauld Place. Get rid of the dark, drab, and gloomy presents of his crazy relatives and completely give the home a well deserved makeover. So they hired a wizarding contractor for whatever work they couldn’t do themselves and within four months the old Grimmauld place was gone.

The house was eight floors and they had demolished, remodeled, and redecorated just about everything in sight. New furniture, appliances, and decorations, both muggle and magical filled the old house. The dull and foreboding colors that were once all encompassing of the house were gone. In their place bright, cheerful colors and accents made the Black Family home come alive again. The one major change was that Jo was finally able to remove Walburga Black’s portrait from the wall. Since she couldn’t remove the painting from the wall she simply asked the contractor to saw around her and then replace the missing wall chunk. Sirius passed out when he came home and realized his mother’s portrait was finally gone.

In thanks to her getting rid of Walburga’s painting, Sirius had the fourth floor completely remade for her. The wall separating his and Regulus’ childhood bedrooms was demolished to turn the whole floor into a large bedroom with a study and an on suite bathroom for Jo.

Took keep up with the large house they decided a house elf would be helpful. After the mess at the Ministry and finding out Kreacher’s involvement, Sirius was so enraged that he killed the house elf. So they interviewed some candidate elves and settled on Gilly. The bubbly little house elf was a great decision as she always preformed her tasks well and didn’t pass out every time she was praised. They loved Gilly and she was a faithful addition to the household.

With all their effort going into the house, the two roommates found little time to contemplate their futures. It wasn’t until the house was complete that Jo could dedicate some time to think about her future endeavors. While she was a strong witch, it was charms that she really excelled at. In fact, after graduating from Hogwarts, her grandfather sent her to America to get her master under one of the best charms mistresses in the world. But what would she do with her mastery now?

It wasn’t until Jo had a conversation with Hermione during Christmas Break that she realized the student textbooks at Hogwarts were lacking quite a bit and that they hadn’t been changed since the 1800’s. Hermione suggested that with Jo’s experience in charms that she could rewrite the charms textbooks for the school. While she didn’t want to get her hopes up, Jo was excited by the idea of helping a new generation of learners understand more about charms. She immediately owled Headmistress McGonagall. The two set up a meeting for the following week to discuss the idea in detail.

That next week, to Jo’s surprise, she sat down not only with the headmistress but also Professor Flitwick. They had a proposition for her. It seems that Professor Flitwick sustained an injury during the final battle and it had left him very weak. While he was fine teaching for now, he would be retiring at the end of the year. They wanted Jo to teach charms while working on the new textbooks. During this next term she would come and stay at the school Tuesday-Thursday to work with the various age groups while also getting some experience of being a teacher in a boarding school. Professor Vector, the Arithmancy professor, would take over as Ravenclaw Head of House for a few years while Jo got settled into teaching at the school but the position would eventually go to her. Jo was ecstatic and immediately accepted the position. She also talked to the headmistress about an idea she had for Sirius, which McGonagall readily accepted.

When she got home that evening she immediately prepared to tell Sirius her news. Gilly made Sirius’ favorite dinner for Jo in the hopes that it would help him take the news better. She was getting more nervous for the dinner by the minute. What if he blew up at her? What if he thought she was leaving him because she hated living with him? What if…he hated her for leaving him? She had to take part of a calming draught just to make it down to dinner.

As she sat down across from Sirius he could tell something was bothering her by the way she avoided eye contact with him. So he did what any sensible person would do, he tried to annoy her into answering him. Finally after twenty rounds of ‘what’s wrong’ she snapped and blurted out all the details of her new job. Sirius looked down and was silent for a bit. Jo panicked and as the fear of rejection sunk in that she started to tear up. She had never cried in front of Sirius before, not even at the funerals, so when he heard her start to sniffle his head snapped up and he rushed over to her. He took the small witch in his arms and began to tell her how happy he was for her.

After his reassurance, Jo was able to hold in her tears and calm herself down when she remembered the second part of her conversation with McGonagall. Jo explained that she asked the headmistress if she would be interested in updated defense against the dark arts books as well. The major problem with these books was that not only were most of them fairly old like the charms books but because of the constant change in teachers throughout the years the information taught was all over the place. An updated, standard set of defense against the dark arts books would make a world of difference in the student’s academics. As an added bonus, if Sirius took the job then it also meant that he could come to Hogwarts as much as he wanted to so he could work, research, interview pass defense professors, and even get student opinions on what was taught. He softly told her that he would owl Minnie in the morning to let her know he would begin working on the books in the fall when Jo started teaching. Jo was so excited that she flung her arms around Sirius’ neck and practically choked him in a fierce hug.

After the holidays Jo began her work at Hogwarts. She learned about what was currently taught in each grade, what kind of assignments to give each year, what her duties outside the classroom would be, and how to help students prepare for their O.W.L’s and N.E.W.T’s. Friday-Monday she would spend as much time with Sirius as she could. She knew that as happy as he was, he was still missing her company. So during her time back at Grimmauld she would bake for him, they would go shopping in both the wizarding and muggle worlds, she would take him to the movies, go out drinking, and even just sit on the couch and read together.

They would often go out with the Weasley twins, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Tonks. When Bill and Charlie would come to town, they also joined the group in a night out. Bill and Charlie, Sirius found out, were quiet close with Jo. In school Bill was the year older than her and Charlie was the year younger. The three of them were inseparable in school and remained great friends even when she left for America to study. When Jo came home as the war with Voldemort was ramping up, their friendship only continued to grow. Sirius was slightly jealous of the two young men. They knew a lot more about Jo’s history and when they came home it always seemed like they stole her away for days on end until they left again. But Sirius couldn’t begrudge her for running off with the men since he was sure he would be doing the same thing if Remus were still alive.

Time seemed to fly that spring and summer and before they knew it Hogwarts was about to start a new year. It was during this time that Jo received a letter. They were eating breakfast when the post came in and an owl dropped off a copy of The Daily Prophet along with a letter addressed to Jo. When she saw the handwriting on the front she froze. Sirius asked her what was wrong but she ignored him. Her hands started shaking as she pried the seal open and silently read the contents of the letter. When she was finished Jo sat in silence for several minutes staring at the wall but suddenly she shot out of her chair and ran to the bathroom. She slammed the door close and proceeded to retch up her breakfast until she was just left dry heaving.

As she came out of the bathroom Sirius was there waiting to check on her, a worried expression on his face. Then she did the one thing Sirius never thought he would ever see her do. She cried. Jo threw herself into Sirius and openly sobbed into his chest. He didn’t know what to do, she wouldn’t tell him what was in the letter or who it was from, but after an hour of crying and two calming draughts he finally heard a soft request of ‘I want Bill and Charlie’. Sirius rushed to the Floo and summoned the young men for her. A few minutes later both men came racing out heading straight for the distraught young woman. Sirius couldn’t hear what they said but watched as Charlie picked up the little witch taking her up to her room, Bill soon followed behind holding the letter he had snagged from the kitchen. He didn’t see any of them for several hours.

Bill and Charlie immerged from the room sometime around dinner. While they wouldn’t tell Sirius what happened, they did tell him that she would be down to speak with him soon and to be very gentle with her. And with that the two men left.

Jo came down to find Sirius sitting in the library waiting for her. As soon as he saw her he got up, gave her a large glass of Firewhisky, pulled her over to the couch and simply waited for her to start talking. She was about halfway through with her glass when she started to tell Sirius that the letter was from her parents. Before he could ask any questions she continued on to tell him that she hadn’t heard from either of her parents since the day she was rescued from them by Dumbledore and her grandfather. She went on to tell him the events that lead to her being taken away.

Her parents had hated her, her very existence made them furious. When her mother became pregnant they had wanted to be rid of her but when her grandfather found out he had threatened to cut her parents off if they didn’t have her, so begrudgingly they did. When she was very small, things were fine. She was raised mainly by a house elf and bonded with her grandfather as he came to see her often. However, when she was eight her grandfather had to start traveling extensively for business and rarely came to see her. That’s when things took a turn for the worst. Her parents began to physically abusing her, using her as their “punching bag”, though with magic they never had to lay a hand on her. She didn’t tell Sirius much of what they did but what he heard was enough to make him feel sick.

It wasn’t until she went to school and met Bill in her first year that she felt some kind of happiness again. Away from home she didn’t have to worry about her parents, she never went home for the holidays and they never sent her anything. When she went home that summer things got even worse than before. She didn’t elaborate as to what happened only that she ended up going back to school with some very bad injuries and scars. The marks on her arms were what Bill saw as they were climbing into the carriages to get to the school. Bill pretty much forced her to tell him what happened in the carriage and he was horrified. He told her that parents should never act that way and that he would help her get away from them. As soon as they got to the Great Hall, Bill marched up to Headmaster Dumbledore stating that he needed to meet with himself and Jo after the feast, to which Dumbledore agreed.

The meeting consisted of Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Bill, and Jo. Jo was shaking in worry and could barely talk above a whisper so Bill stepped in and told them what she said in the carriage. Both professors were shocked. It was then that Professor Dumbledore came around his desk and knelt in front of the small witch. He asked her permission to look inside her mind so he could best help her. When she finally looked up, she wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded her permission. He softly slipped into the young girls mind and found every incident of abuse right at the front of her thoughts. When he pulled out of her head, the twinkle that normally was held in the man’s eye was gone and he asked Bill to leave. After the young man left he had Professor McGonagall firecalled Jo’s grandfather, who was an old friend of the headmaster, as he pulled the memories of what he saw from his mind and entered them into his pensive. Professor McGonagall then escorted Jo to her office before her grandfather could arrive so the two men could discuss what had happened alone.

Her grandfather, Jacob Pendle, was shown the memories and was completely livid. Before he could go storming off to seek revenge for his granddaughter, Dumbledore stopped him and they came up with a plan to get the girl away from her parents for good. Twenty minutes later they firecalled her parents, Phineas and Olivia Pendle, for a meeting. As soon as they got there they stunned the couple, leaving them on the floor for the duration of their conversation. They told them that they knew all they had done to Jo and that they needed to listen very carefully. They would sign the papers that waived their guardianship of Jo which gave custody to Jacob and they would leave England, never to return or have any kind of contact with Jo. In return for doing these things, he would give them a hefty sum of money so they wouldn’t have to work. After unstunning the couple they immediately signed the papers which glowed red and disappeared to the ministry for filing. They turned to the Floo so they could go pack but stopped long enough to hear a warning from Dumbledore and Jacob about never returning to England, the couple nodded and fled.

Dumbledore called Minerva to bring Jo back and a moment later the two stepped back into the headmaster’s office. Jo looked up at her grandfather and sprinted into his arms where she sobbed about how sorry she was. Her grandfather explained what happened and how she would never see them again, that he would take care of her now, and that she was safe. She cried softly into her grandfather’s chest until she was able to calm down a bit. Dumbledore sent her to hospital wing with Professor McGonagall to be checked out and while some of the damage done could never be fixed, like old scars, the newer injuries and slight malnutrition could be. She spent the next couple of days in the hospital wing recovering.

After that Bill became even closer with the little witch, introducing her to Charlie who became a fast friend to the girl. The three of them were often seen together despite being in different years. The boys spent the rest of that year making sure she knew nothing her parents said about her was true. That was the beginning of their friendship, one that despite the distance between them now, only drew them closer to each other.

As she finished explaining her story to Sirius she ended by telling him that this was why she never said she had any family left alive after her grandfather passed away. To her, she doesn’t, they aren’t her family anymore. Bill and Charlie, and now Sirius were her family. With that she kissed the man on the cheek and told him she was going to bed for the night, leaving Sirius to process everything.

The next day Sirius told Jo that he wanted to adopt her. After she gently reminded him that she was 27, he clarified by saying he wanted to adopt her as a sister. He wanted to give her a family, a real one, one that she could call hers forever and legally. At first she refused. However, after reminding her that he had no immediate family and that he also knew about shitty parents, she relented. After all, she loved Sirius and he was her family, this would just make things binding. The sibling bonding spell was easy enough to do but did require the blood of each participant. They each helped the other make a cut and fill a vile full of blood. Then the two repeated the incantation at the same time while dripping their blood on the runes they had drawn beneath them. As soon as they were done speaking they both glowed in a bright blue light before it dispersed. When Sirius looked back at Jo to tell her it worked, he noticed that she had changed ever so slightly. Her hair turned so dark brown, it was almost black like his, and her eyes they had changed completely from a deep brown to and almost silvery gray color.

After several minutes of staring at herself in a mirror they went to the ministry and Gringotts to finalize all the paperwork and give her access to the Black Family vaults, which she told Sirius wasn’t necessary but he insisted that she have. At the ministry Jo was given the chance to change her name if she wished. While Sirius knew she wanted to change her last name, she surprised him with changing her middle name as well. That day she stopped being Josephine Olivia Pendle and became Josephine Elara Black, taking on the Black Family tradition of having a name taken from the stars even though technically it was a moon. Officially becoming a Black and having a true family again meant the world to Jo and it was one of the happiest moments of her life. 

Since then, Jo’s life had flourished. She had two years of teaching under her belt and had loved every minute of it. The charms books she was writing would be split into three different books; years 1-3, 4-5, and then 6-7. She had spent the last two years working on the book for years 1-3, which would be implemented this year at Hogwarts, and hoped to have the other books done in the next 2-3 years. She had not heard from her parents since the letter she received a few years ago. While Sirius floated around the idea of confronting them for writing her, Jo made him promise to leave it alone. Her relationship with Sirius was the best. He took his duties of older brother very seriously and had even scared off some guy that was flirting with her at the pub one time. While she had yelled at him at the time, she secretly loved that he was so protective of her. Since Bill and Charlie only came home a couple times a year she didn’t really get to see them that much but they firecalled and owled each other all the time so their friendship was still amazingly strong.

Now that another year at Hogwarts had finally ended, she was looking forward to relaxing during the summer break along with researching her book.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of information in this chapter!
> 
> Again, I would absolutely love it if you could please leave feedback! Love it? Hate it? Something to add? Just let me know!


	2. Oh Brother...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a normal day with Sirius.

Coming out of her musings with a wave of her hand the shower turned off and Jo stepped out. She accio’d her wand she performed a quick drying spell on her body and hair. Her dark brown hair was dry but the spell she used always made it look flat and lifeless afterwards, so she grabbed her brush and muttered a volumizing charm which after a few brush strokes, made her hair look much fuller and had a beautiful sheen to it.

The hot water had made her skin dry so she grabbed her lotion and applied it all over herself, breathing in the scent of cucumber melon as she went. When she was finished she quick brushed her teeth and made her way over to her closet.

Throwing on her matching hot pink lacy panty and bra set, she began rummaging around for something to wear. However her thought process was ruined as someone began pounding on her door.

“Jo! Get your arse downstairs we have things to do!”

“I’m in the middle of getting dressed now….unless you want me to walk around Diagon Alley looking like a Knockturn whore, I suggest you bugger off.”

A retching noise on the other side of the door was Sirius’ answer.

Rolling her eyes, she responded “That’s what I thought. I’ll be done in five minutes. Go wait downstairs and if you could be a dear and ask Gilly for some tea that would be lovely.”

After listening to him stomp downstairs, Jo turned back to her closet and found something to wear. Grabbing her dark skinny jeans, hot pink tank top, and a pair of black strappy sandals, she threw everything on as fast as she could. She stopped to look at herself in the mirror quick trying to remember if they were going somewhere where she would need to cover up the tattoo on her back a bit more. Her tank top dipped really low in the back and offered a pretty decent view of her large tattoo. While most places showing her tattoo would be fine, there were still some nicer wizarding restaurants that would frown upon her state of dress and body art.

Figuring that Sirius would tell her to change if she needed to, she snatching up her purse and wand she bounced down the stairs to the kitchen.

As she pushed through the door she heard Sirius humming to the beat of “Jungle Boogie”.

“Oh ha ha... you are just so hilarious. Just wait until I set your alarm to blast out “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” at 5am and we’ll see who’s laughing then.”

Sirius glared in her direction before turning back to the Daily Prophet. Smirking to herself, she walked over planted a kiss on his cheek and sat down opposite him to enjoy the cup of tea Gilly had left under stasis for her. Taking a long sip of her earl grey tea, she closed her eyes and relished the quiet around her.

“Hey!” Sirius yelled to her which made her jump slightly almost spilling her tea.

“Sirius! What the hell?! I am right here, why are you yelling?” She sputtered at him.

“You need to drink up quick, we don’t have time to sit and relax. We’re supposed to meet Harry and Hermione at…”

“11:00. Sirius, it’s only 10:40 and I’m just drinking tea. It will only take a minute to Floo to the alley.” Reaching across the table she grabbed her brother’s hand and gave it a squeeze, then smiled up at him and added, “You need to tone it down a bit or I’m going to be forced to put you in a body bind until we leave.”

Sirius barked a laugh at the young witch and gave her a quick squeeze before she took her hand back.

“I’m just excited, love. I haven’t seen Harry in a month because he’s been so busy with work and Hermione said she has some exciting news for us.”

“Oh I already know what her news is, that is if Draco finally grew some balls.”

“Wait, what? How do you know what it is already?”

“Because I may or may not have heard it straight from the blonde’s mouth.”

“Well?”

“Well what?” A teasing smile graced her lips.

“Ugh! Tell me what the news is.” He demanded.

“I’m not supposed to say.”

“But I’m your brother!”

“And what a good big brother you are! But no.”

Sirius growled at her but then schooled his face and presented her with his great big puppy dog eyes. His lip popped out in a pout and he began to whimper to her.

“Please. Please, please, please, please, please tell me! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease Jo!”

“Oh well that is just not fair, your animagus is a dog Sirius, you actually have puppy dog eyes!”

Turning it up a notch, Sirius pulled out his wand and transformed into Padfoot. The shaggy black dog walked over to Jo, put his head on her lap, and proceeded to whimper and cry, all the while looking at her with those big grey eyes. It worked every time.

“Oh fine you mangy dog. I’ll tell you, just stop crying.” Pushing the dog away from her and rolling her eyes. Sirius transformed back into himself and sat back down with a wide grin on his face.

“So what did Draco need to grow balls for?”

“To ask Hermione to marry him of course.”

The animagus sat stunned.

“This really shouldn’t be a surprise Sirius, they started dating during their last year at Hogwarts. So they would be going on about two and a half years now. Frankly, I’m surprised it took him this long.”

Shaking himself a bit, he replied, “I guess you’re right. It’s just that the thought of Lucius Malfoy allowing Draco to marry a muggleborn is still a bit of a shock.”

“Times have changed Sirius. Yes, Lucius is a pureblood at heart. Yes, he’s still pigheaded and arrogant. But most of that hatred was a façade and he’s had time to learn about muggles and their culture. He likes Hermione very much now. Something about swearing at him in Latin I think… Besides, you know how fond of him I am.”

“He has made some big changes. Even I can see that he isn’t the same person he was when we thought he was on the wrong side. So I guess you’re right.”

“Of course I am. I’m always right.” Jo smirked at her brother.

Sirius huffed at her. “Well speaking of love and such...any special wizard in your life I need to know about?”

“Any special witch I need to know about?” She retorted, raising an eyebrow at her brother.

“Jo I only ask because as your big brother I have the right to make sure that any man that touches you is worthy of being around you.”

“And what makes you think that I can’t be a good judge of that?” Fixing him with a hard stare.

“It’s not… it’s not that…just…” he sputtered at her, trying to convey his meaning. “I just want you to be happy Josie.”

A soft smile graced her lips, “Oh Sirius but I am happy. I love my job. My research for the book is fascinating and I am so excited to be starting to teach the younger students with the new book. You and I have never been closer and we are about to see two of our good friends for lunch. I am happy.”

“But…”

“But nothing Sirius. I may not have a boyfriend or much of a love life at the moment, which happens when you’re a teacher at a boarding school, but I’m okay. Sure I would like a boyfriend, but that doesn’t mean I’m miserable. Love will come when it comes. Okay?”

Running his hands through his hair, he sighed and agreed with the witch. “Alright, love. I’m sorry, your right.” Looking back at the clock, “Oh it’s time! We need to go.” Jumping out of his chair, putting both of their tea cups in the sink.

“Okay, okay! Just let me run to the loo quick and we can go. We still have plenty of time. I’ll meet you at the Floo.”

As she darted out the kitchen, Sirius thought a lot about what she said in regards to her love life. Sure he didn’t have much of a serious love life himself but that was the way he wanted it right now. He knew that Jo wanted love in her life, a serious one that would lead to marriage, babies, and all that other stuff. He wanted to help her and as he walked to the Floo, he began to work out a plan to do just that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Sirius...
> 
> Again, I would absolutely love it if you could please leave feedback! Love it? Hate it? Something to add? Just let me know!


	3. Sirius’ Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He was just trying to help.

**July 1, 2001- 12:15 A.M.**

He was a genius.

I mean really, in just one week he had gone from nothing to having an actual plan in place. When you think about it there was really no more of a simple solution than a bonding ritual. They had done the sibling bonding ritual so this one would be just as easy!

Sirius had waited until Jo was well asleep to get things started. He cleared a large area in the library and began with _Scourgify_ to the floor. Then grabbing a paint brush and white paint, he drew a large circle on the floor and then painted all of the necessary runes along the outside. It took him quiet sometime to paint everything by hand but in the end it looked just like the book’s picture did and he was quite please with himself.

Grabbing a vile off of the desk and incantation he walked back over to the runes. The vile contained Jo’s blood, necessary for the ritual. It was the same vile that she had used for the sibling bonding ritual. After they had finished bonding as siblings Sirius had taken both of their viles, put them in a small box that was charmed to only open for either of them, and hid it up in the attic. He wasn’t trying to be sneaky mind you, blood is so important to magic and if Jo was ever in trouble or vice versa they could do a blood trace to find one another. But given the circumstance he thought that Jo would be pretty forgiving when she found out he used her blood. Seeing her soul bond would make her so happy that she couldn’t be angry at him…he hoped.

Standing on the outside of the circles, Sirius began dripping blood onto the runes while reading the incantation aloud.

“I call forth the Black Familial Magic to find the soul bond of Josephine Elara Black. Tying her mind, body, and soul to her bond mate. Bring the bond together forevermore. So mote it be!”

Nothing happened.

He waits a few minutes; maybe the magic needed some time to get the guy over here.

Nothing happens. So he tries again. Checking the book to make sure he got the incantation right, he walks back over and begins again.

“I call forth the Black Familial Magic to find the soul bond of Josephine Elara Black. Tying her mind, body, and soul to her bond mate. Bring the bond together forevermore. So mote it be!”

Nothing.

“FUCK!” Throwing the book at the wall in a fit of rage. “Bloody fucking spell….doesn’t work…useless book...” He walks over to the cabinet and pulls out a bottle of firewhisky, not taking a glass, and starts drinking.

_Maybe it just needs some time to work? Not all magic is instant. Maybe it just meant that she would know her bond mate when she met him?_

He sits staring at the fire and drinking, glancing at the runes every few minutes. Unfortunately this goes on for a few hours and by the time morning comes Sirius is out cold on the couch with a most gone bottle of firewhisky in his hand.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

July 1, 2001- 7:30 A.M.

_Dear Mother of Merlin… how is it that I’m up this bloody early? My body should realize that we are not in school anymore. But here I am up at 7:30 AM…. Maybe I’ll wake up Sirius and bride him with a movie this afternoon if he gets up and goes to breakfast with me._

Getting up out of bed Jo walks over to the bathroom to quickly complete her morning routine. After she finishes in the bathroom she throws on her pale blue bra and knickers, black swoop neck t-shirt, and deep purple shorts, she would grab her trainers on the way out the door. Wand in hand she walks down to Sirius’ room on the second flood but finds it empty. Figuring he got up early for some reason she went searching for him in the kitchen.

However, upon entering the only being in the kitchen was Gilly. No sign of Sirius.

“Gilly, do you know where Sirius is? Has he gone out?”

The little elf in question looked slightly upset, holding her ears in her hands and whimpering.

Crouching in front of the shaking elf, Jo gently reassured her, “Gilly, it’s okay, you are not in trouble. I just want to know where Sirius is so we can go to the café this morning. Will you tell me please?”

“Master Sirius is being in the library…”

“Oh well, thank you Gilly. That’s wasn’t anything bad.”

Gilly whimpered. “But it is bad!”

“Why Gilly? Is he okay?” Getting slightly panicked by the elf’s clear anxiousness.

“Master Sirius be using blood on the floor! Gilly checked to see if it was Master Sirius’ but he is not being cut, just sleeping.”

“I better to see what is going on then Gilly, thank you. Stay here for now, okay?”

Without waiting for the elf to reply she races out the door and to the library. When Jo opens the door she is met with quite the sight.

After checking on Sirius who, other than being hung over was sleeping and perfectly fine, she began to survey the room. White runes on the floor around a big circle and blood covering the runes tell her that Sirius was definitely up to something. However the book on the floor is very familiar to her. It’s the same book they used to perform the sibling bond. But it was the paper on the floor by the runes that had her gasping in shock.

_I call forth the Black Familial Magic to find the soul bond of Josephine Elara Black. Tying her mind, body, and soul to her bond mate. Bring the bond together forevermore. So mote it be._

I’m going to kill him.

“SIRIUS ORION BLACK!”

Sirius’ head shoots up and he turns only to fall face first off the couch onto the floor.

“Fuck!” He struggles to get up and searches the room for the shrieking woman. “What is it? What’s wrong? What happened?”

“WHAT DID YOU DO SIRIUS!?!”

Holding his head and struggling to stand up right, he quickly _accio_ ’s a hangover potion and gulps it down. Once he regains some of his barings he looks over to Jo. Standing in front of the runes, holding the spell in her hands, and glaring daggers from her eyes is his very pissed off sister.

“Well love…I may have performed a soul bonding spell for you last night.” He says quickly, looking down at his feet.

“Are you telling me that this is my blood? That you tried to tie me to someone I don’t even know? WITHOUT ASKING ME?!?” Jo’s voice got louder and louder as she went on.

Sirius looks at Jo sheepishly. “I know you didn’t ask but I thought this would help you out. This would find someone for you who was your person, your person who matched you mind, body, and soul. I thought I could help you be happy.”

The young woman softened slightly at his words. “Sirius, we’ve been through this before. I am happy. There was no need to do any of this. I didn’t ask for this.”

“I know you didn’t ask but you said it yourself, you work in a boarding school with mostly all older teachers, you don’t have time to date. This would fix that. This would make dating other people pointless because who ever showed up here would be your perfect match. Your soul mate.” Walking over to where Jo was standing.

“Oh Sirius. You are very sweet and while I am still angry you did this without even asking me, it did come from a good place. You’re just a git.”

“Oi!” Smirking at her brother Jo starts to laugh.

“So do I need to expect anyone coming around the corner processing their love for me?” Half teasing, half actually worried what he did worked.

“No. Don’t worry, it didn’t work.”

“Good! Along with cleaning this mess up, without the help of Gilly, you can take me to breakfast and I will consider forgiving you.” Flashing him a bright smile, she hands Sirius the spell and takes a step backwards to turn towards the door.

Not a great choice.

When she stepped backwards she unfortunately stepped onto one of the runes, touching her foot to the writing and her blood on the floor. Before either of them could even comprehend what was happening, there was a bright flash of light engulfing the circle. Jo screamed and a ripple of magic burst from her, shaking the house and making Sirius stumble. He looked back at Jo just in time to see her eyes roll to the back of her head as she started to slump forward. The light behind her start to dim as he rushed forward to grab her.

Taking her into his arms, Sirius laid Jo down on the couch. Grabbing his wand off the table he ran a quick health scan and conjured a wet washcloth for her forehead. The scan came back negative so she was fine. Figuring she just needed time to sleep off whatever happened to her, he turned around to clean up the mess from last night.

That is when he came face to face with Remus Lupin and Severus Snape.

Now it was his turn to faint.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The men...oh yes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be up soon!
> 
> Feedback please! Love it? Hate it? Something to add? Just let me know!


	4. Oh Merlin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A discovery is made.

**July 1, 2001- 8am**

“Oh Merlin.”

“Not that I don’t find it hilarious that Black just fainted like a little girl but ‘rennevate’ him so that we can figure out what the hell is going on.”

Remus rolled his eyes, a slight smile playing at his lips, and pointed his wand at his old friend.

“ _Rennevate_ ” The animagus stirred slightly and then began opening his eyes. “Come on Sirius, I know you had a bit of a shock but I need you to get a grip and focus.” Heaving the other wizard to his feet and then setting him in a nearby chair, Remus takes a step back.

Sirius rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath. He slowly raised his eyes to look at the man in front of him. It was Remus. But it couldn’t be because Remus was dead. In fact so was the other man in the room. Severus Snape was also dead. Remus and Severus. Remus and Snivellus! What the hell was Remus doing with that great bat?!

“You’re supposed to be dead.”

Remus smirked at the other marauder. “Supposed to be.”

“But you’re here.”

“It looks like it.”

He had a quick moment of clarity and before he said anything else, he took out his wand and pointed it at the man in front of him.

“Tell me something only Remus would know.”

The man thought for a second before he smiled and said, “In school, you lost a bet to me and had to wear women’s underwear for a week. You never told anyone else because you thought the girls would think you were some kind of nutter and you’d never get a date again.”

“Holy shit, I never told anyone about that! Not even James. Well you’re definitely Remus.” Standing up, the man walks to his friend and gives his a powerful hug. “Welcome back old friend.”

Just then another voice interrupted the reunion. “While I hate to break up this loving scene, we need to know what is going on Black.”

Cringing, Sirius lets go of his friend and faces the other man. “Bite me Snivellus. No one wanted you to come back so who the hell knows why you’re here.”

Before Severus could reply Remus stepped in.

“Enough Sirius. Severus and I need to know what happened. As happy as I am to be back, we both know we were dead. Now we’re here…” Looking around the room. “In Grimmauld Place? But it looks completely different.”

“Yeah well Jo and I completely redid the place so it doesn’t surprise me that you don’t recognize it.”

“Jo?”

“Oh yeah Josephine…” He glances over and points to his sister lying on the couch. The girl’s dark hair was hanging around her like a halo. Her pale skin lit up by the sun as she lays passed out on the couch.

Both men step forward to look at the young witch but its Severus who speaks first.

“Is that Pendel?”

“Wait you mean Josephine Pendel?”

“Well…actually she’s Josephine Black now.”

Both men tensed and their heads snapped up to look at Sirius.

“Sirius are you saying you married her? She’s your wife?”

“What?! No! Merlin no! She’s my sister. I adopted her as my sister into the Black family.”

The two other men relax after hearing that statement.

“This is again off topic Black. What happened to us? Do you know why we’re back?”

Sirius started to reply but stopped himself. His mouth opened and closed a few time but nothing came out. Finally after a couple of minutes he pointed behind them over to the circle they had previously been standing in.

Looking back, both men saw white runes on the floor around a big circle and blood covering the runes. They also saw the bonding book on the floor next to the circle. They both looked at each other, then back to the circle, and finally looked back at Sirius. But before either of them could comment on what they saw, Sirius spoke.

“Why don’t you two take a seat? I should wake up Jo, since this has a lot to do with her and she can help me explain what’s happened since you died.” He said as he walked over to the sleeping girl.

“That would probably be for the best.” Remus moved to the loveseat and Severus to one of the wingback chairs.

“Just know that she didn’t do this. I did. She didn’t even know this was happening until she came in here and saw what I did.”

“Why does that not surprise me?” Severus murmured.

Shooting the man a cold glare, Sirius turned to his sister, aimed his wand and muttered “ _Rennevate_ ”. Slowly the girl began to stir.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She could hear voices as she struggled to open her eyes. The light was so bright and she felt sore all over. Someone removed the cloth that was on her forehead. She slowly opened her eyes, shielding them from the sun with one of her hands; she saw Sirius’ face over hers and smiled.

“Sirius? What happened? Did I faint?” The man grabbed her by the shoulders and slowly eased her into a sitting position, staying right in front of her line of sight.

“Well, yes, you did. But there is a very good reason for that...” Slowly he let go of Jo and stepped aside taking a seat next to Remus.

Her eyes widened as she followed Sirius’ movements and saw him sitting next to Remus Lupin. The man smiled at her softly and before she could say anything Sirius added, “That’s not all love.” Pointing to the seat on her left.

Jo turned her gaze over to her other side and her mouth dropped open slightly at the sight of Severus Snape. She wanted to say something but nothing would come out.

She surveyed the men before her.

The man on her right was tall, a few inches above six feet at least. He looked lean and wore a causal brown suit that was lightly worn, like it was his favorite so it got a lot of use. When she looked at his face she saw his pale skin had been marked with scars cutting across his face. His hair was light brown and like his moustache and beard was flecked with gray throughout, most likely due to the stress of his transformations. His eyes were a beautiful green. Not bright or bold but a deep green like leaves in a tree.

The man on her left body wise resembled the other man. He was above six feet in height, lean, and had exceptionally pale skin. He was wearing his black teaching robes, the only outfit she had ever seen him in. His hair was black as night, shoulder length, and seemed to be slightly greasy. When she looked at this man’s face a slight smirk played his lips and his jet black eyes seemed to be scanning her, learning all he could before speaking.

They looked exactly like they did before they died.

Slowly she started to come to her senses. Her brain was starting to function again and a million questions formed in her mind.

“How? How are you here? How are you alive? We buried you, both of you. I saw you go into the ground.”

“We were rather hoping you could answer that for us.” A soft, warm voice responded.

Turning to Remus she laughed slightly, “I don’t really know. All I remember was that I was talking to Sirius about breakfast and I took a step back before this bright light came from behind me. I felt a strong pull from the light and then my magic kind of discharged and then…I don’t remember anything. I’m guessing that’s when I passed out.”

“That’s pretty much what happened Pet,” said Sirius. “After you fell over, I grabbed you and placed you on the couch. When I turned around there they were.”

_Oh no… the only thing behind him would have been…_ “Wait. Where exactly were you when you appeared here.”

This time it was Severus who responded. “Over there in the circle.”

“Oh gods… oh gods…” Burying her face in her hands and shaking her head.

“Oh yes. And judging by your reaction you figured out that you’re little ritual worked.”

“I didn’t do this!”

“If you didn’t then we wouldn’t be here.”

“But I wasn’t even around when he did the ritual. I was asleep. I came down here the next morning and saw everything there. I wasn’t even present for it.”

“You had to have done something that satisfied the ritual.” Remus said.

“Wait, you preformed the spell without her being present? So she wasn’t in the circle when you did the spell?” Severus asked Sirius.

“No. I was trying to surprise her. I did it with her blood though.”

“Well then it wouldn’t have worked. She would have had to be touching part of the circle or runes for it to work.”

Sirius’ head snapped up, “But she did! When we were talking she stepped back and her foot stepped on one of the runes. It was after that that we saw the bright light, she felt the pull, her magic discharged, and she passed out. That’s when you two turned up.”

Taking in all the information, Jo looked from her brother, to Remus, and finally to Severus before she spoke softly to the room. “Are you saying… that the soul bonding ritual worked? That _I_ brought them back. That _both_ of them are soul bonded to me?”

Severus leaned forward slightly in his chair, looking at Jo. When she met his eyes she saw them soften ever so slightly before he replied, “Yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? Feelings? I would love any comments!


	5. Knowledge is Power

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somethings have happened you might want to know.

**July 1, 2001- 9am**

“How about some tea?”

Without waiting for a response Jo called Gilly and ordered some tea with finger sandwiches and bisques. The elf was gone and a short time later the order was sitting on the table in front of everyone. While they all had tea, only Sirius could stomach eating at the moment.

“I guess the first thing you’ll want to know is the year. It’s 2001. Specifically July 1, 2001. It’s been three years since you’ve died.” Jo started but wasn’t sure what else to say to the men, however Remus saved her.

“Maybe tell us what happened after we died. I’m assuming we won.”

“We did. We lost a lot of people on both sides of the war but Voldemort was defeated and Harry survived.”

“What happened to those on Voldemort’s side?” Severus asked.

“Why Snivellus? Looking to hook up with some of your old buddies?” Sirius scoffed.

“Sirius!” Jo glared at her brother. “Knock it off, you’re being rude. And let me just jog your memory and remind you that you are the reason they are here. So play nice.”

Sirius rolled his eyes and went back to eating his sandwiches.

“To answer your question, they’re dead. They were given two options, be obliviated and sent to the muggle world or receive The Kiss. Every single one of them took the kiss.”

“What about Lucius?”

“He’s fine. Kingsley’s testimony proved that all the Malfoy’s were spies and showed their allegiance to our side. But you should know that Narcissa died a few months after the war.”

“How?”

“She was hit by a curse during the fight and it drained her badly. Lucius said that he thought she was too tired and didn’t have the fight in her to beat the curse. It was really on him and Draco for awhile.”

There was a somber pause in the conversation for a moment before Remus asked Jo a question. “How did you know it had been hard on Lucius and Draco?”

Jo smiled and looked down at her tea but before she could answer Sirius chimed in.

“Because she’s practically been adopted by those two as well. They dote on Josy. Love having her over. She has her own room at Malfoy Manor on top of the dinners she has with them once a week. Would have been worried she was sleeping with one of them but Lucius is still pretty upset about Narcissa and Draco has a bird of his own.”

“Sirius!” Jo’s cheeks blushing bright red in embarrassment.

“How did you get so close to them?” Severus asked, his curiosity peaked as he knew the Malfoys didn’t let just anyone have their time.

Jo looked up to him, still a tinge of pink in her cheeks. “Well I met Lucius in Flourish & Blotts several months after the final battle, I think it was about April because Narcissa had already passed away. I was in the charms section looking for a specific book that they didn't have. Mr. Malfoy saw me and introduced himself. We spent some time talking about various things and I mentioned how sorry I was that he wife had died.”

Severus interrupted, “Did he stiffen up and walk away? He’s not one to show his emotions to the world. Let alone a strange girl he just met.”

“Actually no. He seemed to realize that I was being genuine and thanked me. He then asked what I was looking for and when I told him they didn't have the book I needed he mentioned that he had it at the Manor. Then asked if I wanted to see it along with the other rare charms texts he had there. It kind of just grew from there. I saw them more and more and before I knew it, I had a room at the Manor and we were having weekly dinners.”

Severus was silent for a moment. “That is… surprising.”

“Well technically I'm related to them. Being adopted as a Black makes me related to the Malfoys, so I think that had something to do with them putting in the effort to get to know me. Their family and I happen to like them quite a bit.” Smiling at the end of her statement.

“What’s going on in the world? With our friends? I’d like to know a little about the world we’re going to walk into.” Remus requested of the two Blacks.

The siblings smiled at each other before Sirius answered the wolf.

“Well to be honest a lot has happened. Kingsley was made Minister of Magic. His right hand man is Arthur Weasley. After the war Kingsley was voted on by the Wizengamot and a year later he was voted to remain as minister by the people. His first act was to make Arthur his ‘Advisor to the Minister of Magic’, which makes him Kingsley’s second in command. He also made Amelia Bones Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The three of them have done wonders for the wizarding community.”

Jo took over the explanation then. “It took quite some time but they cleaned house in the ministry. Everyone had to be interviewed, given Veritaserum, and anyone who was found to support Voldemort was at minimum fired. Then they worked on the laws. Anything enacted during the time of Voldemort’s control was thrown out immediately. They also got rid of a bunch of the laws that promoted the bigoted views of ‘pureblood is best’. So now, there are tons of witches and wizards who are able to get better jobs because of the repeals!”

“Things sound pretty great. All these changes are a lot to take in but they all sound like they have been for the better.” Remus added.

“Well things haven’t been easy. There is still a lot of hate about the war, on both sides. But the ministry is trying really hard to help people move on, heal, and make things better for everyone; pureblood, half-blood, and muggle born alike.”

“Probably what’s helped the most is the changes to the school that Minnie’s made.”

“Minerva’s headmistress? Not surprising, actually a really great choice.”

Jo jumped in, “In the three years she's been headmistress she's tried to instill a greater sense of unity in the school. The houses are still separated but students are encouraged to socialize a lot more out of their houses. They don't go to classes with just their house mates and another house anymore. All the students from that year, no matter the house, are split up and go to classes together, so there is a healthy mix of each house in all classes. This makes it so they're not only socializing and learning with people from their own house during classes. The students have to eat breakfast and dinner at their assigned tables so that we can make sure no students are missing, but during lunch all students are able to mingle at different tables.

There's also a bunch of new clubs like Muggle Gifts- which is just a class that introduces students to a bunch of new muggle technology and things they may have never seen before from the muggle world. But the most popular are the art and a music clubs, which are open to students of any age to join. All of these things have combined to make Hogwarts an even more amazing school.

Don’t get me wrong, things haven't been easy, the change was hard the first two years but last year there was a huge improvement in school unity and I think it's just going to keep growing!” She had a huge smile on her face and was positively glowing by the end of her speech. 

“You said “we”. Do you work at Hogwarts?” Remus asked, smiling back at the witch.

“Oh yes, I’m the Charm’s Professor.”

“And she’s writing the new charm’s textbooks for the school. And she runs a charm’s club for years 5-7. AND she’ll be head of Ravenclaw in the next two years.” Sirius boasted proudly.

“Well that’s…” Remus began.

“Wait! How is that possible? I remember when you were in school and you were in Gryffindor. How are you able to be Head of House for Ravenclaw?” Severus questioned.

Jo smirked at the man. “Well that’s simple. Two reasons really. One, no one else wanted the job for more than a few years. Professor Vector, is currently Ravenclaw Head of House but she doesn’t want to stay Head of House. It’s too restricting for her. So she’s staying on for the next two years while I continue getting more comfortable teaching, and to be honest, it gives me the chance to finish my books before taking on more responsibility at the school.”

“And what’s the other reason?”

Laughing as she answered the man, “Minerva said she can do whatever she wants.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well of course she can, she's Mcgonagall!
> 
> Tell me everything my loves!


	6. ?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More things to be said, discussed...what not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never could think of a title for this chapter suggestions?

**July 1, 2001- 10am**

“So your writing a book?” Remus inquired of the girl.

“I’m writing three books in fact.”

This time it was Severus who responded, “Really? Three books, that’s quite the goal.”

“Well it needed to be done. The student textbooks at Hogwarts were lacking quite a bit and they haven’t been changed since before the 1900’s. They needed to be updated with newer, more practical charms. I’m not saying that I didn’t learn a lot in school but a change is probably needed every century to keep up with the times.” She explained.

“How far have you come?” Severus inquired.

“I have a layout of three charms books. Years 1-3, 4-5, and then 6-7. I just finished the book for years 1-3, which I’m going to start using this year. I hope to have the second book done in the next two years. That way the students in year one this year will be able to continue using with the next new book when they become fourth years. Only the first years are getting the book, that way we can fade the old book out and the new one in with little difficulty.”

“That is truly impressive Josephine. Not many young people can claim to write a book, let alone three.” Remus praised.

Blushing slightly, “Thank you Remus.” Pausing to take a sip of her tea. “Is there anything else you two want to know about?” Looking at both men.

“I guess I’m curious as to what happened to some of our friends. What are their lives like?”

Sirius started off this explanation. “Well let’s see… Almost all of the kids in Harry’s year went back for their “8th” year to make sure they could take their N.E.W.T’s successfully and probably to have a normal year for once. Harry was made the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. He also married Luna Lovegood last year and she took over the Quibbler after her father was killed by Death Eaters.

Ron and Ginny left school and immediately became quidditch players. Ron was hired on as Chudley Cannons Keeper. Ginny was hired on as the Holyhead Harpies Chaser. It has caused a bit of a problem between the two of them which can make Weasley gatherings slightly louder when they’re around. But neither one of them are around much. The Twins have expanded Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes by opening a branch in Hogsmeade. I heard that their doing very well, no idea if they are seeing anyone.”

Jo took over from there. “Neville works at Hogwarts with me as the Herbology Professor. He just finished his apprenticeship and Mastery of Herbology under Professor Sprout. This will be his first year. He married Hannah Abbott right after the war was over and they're expecting their first child in the next few months. I think Hannah writes articles on freelance for The Quibbler and Prophet.

Oh and Hermione gave us all a big surprise when she graduated. She went to school and did amazing on her N.E.W.T’s. Everyone thought she would go to the ministry to take over as head of a department but she ended up going to work for the Malfoys. Since Malfoy Enterprises is one of the largest corporations in Wizarding England and has huge connections internationally, Hermione ended up going there to work as there international spokesperson.

Draco is taking over Malfoy Enterprises for his father. Lucius is taking some time to teach Draco everything he needs to know about running the little empire he's made. In a few years he’s going to step down and Draco will take over completely. The company has done a bunch of wonderful things and the Malfoys have donated a ton of money to charity in recent years, but I suspect that is to make sure that they maintain having a positive image. They may be good but they are definitely all about keeping a good public image.”

“Tell them the best part Pet!” Sirius chuckled with a mischievous glint in his eye.

“Oh yes… Draco and Hermione are engaged to be married on Christmas Eve this year!”

“Holy Merlin…” Remus whispered.

“That was pretty much the reaction of everyone when they started dating. But they have always been a strong couple and they rode out the worst of it together, with Lucius’ full support. I think they’re going to have a wonderful marriage.”

“Speaking of marriage…. I think the time has come for use to discuss our bond.” Severus stated.

“You’re probably right.” Jo answered in a soft shaky voice. “Sirius, could you give us a few minutes alone?”

Sirius’ head snapped to his sister. “What?! I’m the reason there is a bond, I want to hear your decisions.”

Jo sat up a little straighter, raised an eyebrow, and looked straight at Sirius as she said, “So you want to listen to me talk about having sex with them?”

“WHAT? NO!” Standing up out of his seat and glaring at his sister.

“Good, then go, because we have to talk about all the bond includes and that happens to include us having sex to set the bond.”

“Ugh… I do not need to hear this. Call me when you’re through.” And with that Sirius walked out of the library, shutting the door, and leaving Jo alone with her new bond mates.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jo sat on the couch, looking down at her hands as she wringed them together. Sirius had left only a minute ago but the silence made it seem like an hour had slipped by.

Without looking at the men she whispered, “I don’t know what to say.”

The men sighed and looked at each other before turning to the witch but before they could say anything she continued.

“Severus, could you move over by Remus? I just feel like I have to pick which one of you I face when I talk and I’d rather be able to look that the both of you. Please.”

“Of course.” The dark man stood up and walked to the loveseat, taking the space next to Remus. “Now before we make any decisions, do we all know what the soulbonding contains and what it means to us now?”

“The bond is similar to a marriage bond, just on a deeper level. None of us would be able to marry another person because we’re already bonded to each other’s soul. The marriage bond would never set and would probably cause all of us great pain if we tried to marry someone else.” Jo stated.

Remus continued, “To complete the bond, the bondmates have to have sex. It is the final step to a bonding ritual and must take place within a month of the bond or all of the bondmates will start to get sick and can even die.”

Then Severus added, “We are also connected on a deeper level. I’m not saying that we can read each other’s minds or anything like that but it’s similar to the connection that identical twins have with each other. Take the Weasley twins for example. Their able to communicate quite a bit without talking but they aren’t talking in their minds, their just more empathetic towards each other, which causes a deep emotional connection. So while we won’t be reading each other’s thoughts, we will more than likely be able to ‘sense’ if something is wrong and even have better nonverbal communication within the bond. And while it is rare for a soul bond to bring people back from the dead, it has been known to happen.”

“It’s for life.” Jo finished softly.

“True, there is no way to break a soul bond. Well, other than death that is.” Severus added dryly.

“I’m so sorry.” She whispered and while the message was for the men she hung her head and looked down to her hands.

“Why are you sorry? Are you upset that you’re bonded to us?” Severus asked.

“No. No, I’m not upset about that. I’m so happy you’re both alive. I thought I’d never get a chance to see either of you again. I’m just sorry you got dragged into this without a choice. Sirius did this because I told him I haven’t had much of a love life for a while, but that… that happens when you’re a teacher at a boarding school. I told him a relationship would come when it did and that I was okay. He clearly took that as, ‘I’m going to fix her life for her’ and preformed this without my permission. So I’m sorry for him and I’m sorry you didn’t have a choice in who you were bonded to.”

There was a short pause before either of them spoke, both of them realizing that she felt like she was a disappointment to them.

“Josephine,” Remus waited for the girl to look at them again. “The bond wouldn’t have been made if we didn’t work together. We’re connected together, mind, body, and soul. There’s a reason for that. I for one am not angry that I get a second chance at life because of this.”

“I agree with Lupin here. Soul Bonds are not chosen at random. We have connections, even if we don’t see them yet. I’m not saying that it will automatically be easy, especially given mine and Lupin’s history, it will take time but our connection will grow. The more we take time to learn about each other and be together the stronger it will grow. I also agree that I’m not angry that I will have a second chance at the life I want to lead.”

She’s hesitant to agree but with a small nod and a soft smile on her face she looks at the men and replies, “Okay, so what do we do now?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never could think of a title for this chapter suggestions?
> 
> Comments are always loved!


	7. Let Make a Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A plan, Kingsley, and a memory.

**July 1, 2001- 11:00am**

After their discussion they decided they needed to put a plan in place. Two people coming back from the dead, even in the Wizarding World, wasn't something that happened very often. They would have to inform the Minister of Magic first and foremost. So Jo went over to the desk in the library and wrote up a letter to give Kingsley a brief explanation of what had happened and who was back. She asked if they would be able to meet with him as soon as possible to start sorting everything out.

She also quickly wrote a letter to Bill and Charlie, using her wand to duplicate it so that each could receive their own copy. She was little stressed out about everything and needed to tell Bill and Charlie what was going on because they would be able calm her down. She called Gilly and quietly asked the elf to send Kingsley's letter with her raven, Poe, and then asked the elf to deliver Bill and Charlie's letters herself so they would get them right away.

When she turned back to the two men she decided that she would show them to their rooms before they all had some lunch while waiting for Kingsley’s reply. Remus would share the second floor with Sirius, taking the spare room on that floor. She gave Severus the choice of two bedrooms. He could either take the small bedroom on the first floor that was across from the library or he could take the larger bedroom on the third floor. Both rooms had their merits but he chose the bedroom on the third floor. After showing them their rooms and giving them a tour of the rest of the new Grimmauld Place, the three went to join Sirius in the kitchen for lunch.

Gilly had made them a lunch that consisted of cheese, ham, and turkey sandwiches with a beautiful garden salad to accompany it. During lunch Jo and Sirius continue to talk about the changes in the Wizarding World.

It was at this time that Joe noticed the first of what she was sure would be many cracks in the situation they were in. While Severus and Remus seem to be able to have polite, if not stiff conversation with each other, Sirius and Severus spoke almost no words to each other, what little words they did say we're biting and rude. Joe intervened every time but she could only chastise the two grown men so many times before it started to grate on her.

While she was working for the order she knew that Severus and Sirius didn't get along. She had witnessed there screaming matches during meetings, underhanded comments, and downright immature behavior both men displayed. She knew it all stemmed from their school days but she didn't really know much other than that. They were all older than her; she didn't go to school with them and therefore didn't really know what the source of the problem was. She would have to speak to Remus about it later. For now there were much more pressing matters to get into.

Just as they were finishing lunch an owl came with a letter from Kingsley stating that the three of them should come to the Ministry at 12:30 so that things could be sorted out. After letting the men know what the plan was, she excused herself to go freshen up before they left.

She quickly changed from her shorts and tank into a casual dress. The dress was royal blue and had small white flowers all over it. It had a small v-neck at her chest and flowed down to just past her knees. Throwing her hair into a high ponytail, she then grabbed a pair of white wedges and her purse and headed down to join the men for their trip.

The group Floo’d into the atrium of the Ministry of Magic. Upon walking over to the golden gates Joe took a moment to admire the fountain even though she had seen it many times now. During Voldemort's reign there had been a horrid statue in the fountain at the center of the atrium. It showed wizarding dominance over muggles, thankfully that had been replaced with a remake of the original Fountain of Magical Brethren and it made the atrium look quite beautiful once again.

They were met at the security stand by an aide to the minister. The aide took them to a special lift that brought them straight to the minister's office. Once there the aide knocked on the door and bade them to enter. The four walked in and when Kingsley saw them he got up from behind the desk to greet them.

“Hello all! Welcome!” Kingsley’s voiced boomed.

“Hi Kings.” Jo flashed a bright smiled at the man and stepped closer to give him a quick hug.

“Josie, looking beautiful as ever, how are you my girl?” Smiling down at the little witch.

“Well…” She laughed. “It’s been a weird day Kings.” Gesturing behind her to Severus and Remus.

Taking a step back from her, Kingsley walked towards the two men. Looking at the critically for only a moment before he smiled and stuck his hand out to Remus and then Severus.

“Remus, Severus, didn’t think I’d be seeing you two anytime soon.”

Jo snorted behind him and coved up her mouth to prevent herself from laughing outright at the man’s remark. But when she realized the four men had turned to look at her she blushed, mumbled an apology, and turned away from them.

Severus smirked at the little witch before responding. “Yes well I can agree with that statement.”

“Please, why don’t we all have a seat?” Gesturing to the chairs in front of his desk, the four guests sat down. Jo sat in the middle of Severus and Remus and Sirius on the other side of Remus.

Getting down to business, Kingsley began. “So I gathered this information after I received Josie’s letter. Your bond has already been recorded and is in the archives as we speak. I know you’re who you say you are because there is no tricking the bonding paperwork, even with polyjuice. The three of you are bonded together. It’s legal and binding.

You my dear are not in any kind of trouble for this happening. Neither is Sirius. While soul bonding does use blood, it isn’t considered dark magic because it’s Fate who decided the bonds, not wizards.”

Jo heaved a sigh of relief and relaxed immensely. While she was pretty sure everything was on the up and up, the wizarding world can be pretty finicky with what they consider right or wrong in magic.

“As for you two, you are considered alive in every sense of the word. I went to retrieve your death certificates so that I could nullify them and they were gone. They disappeared the second you came back according to the workers down there, they were pretty shocked to get a report that two previously dead persons were not dead anymore.”

“So that means that their okay to be here? They get a second chance at life without any strings attached?” Jo inquired.

“I think you might be the only string my dear.” Smiling at her. “But between you and me I don’t think either of them mind much.” Making the young witch blush again.

“So we’re done?” Sirius asked.

“Not quite. I have two things I need to go over with the two of you. Both of you have been awarded The Order of Merlin-First Class for acts of outstanding bravery during the war.” Handing both men a golden medal with green ribbons on each.

“The last thing I need to talk to you about is how you want to handle this in regards to the public.”

Before either of them could answer, Jo spoke up.

“I already have an idea about that. Since this is going to be a shock to everyone, I think you, Kings, need to call an emergency meeting of our friends for tomorrow so we can explain the situation to their faces.”

“That would probably be for the best. Let them hear things from you and then they can help handle the backlash from this. What about the public?”

“Well Neville will be one of the people there, we can have him bring Hannah too and I can give an interview to Hannah so she gets the facts and she can have the story published in the Prophet and the Quibbler the next day…What do you think?” She turned to Severus and then Remus.

“I think it sounds like a smart idea Jo.” Remus replied.

“Yes, get ahead of the craziness and release our own good information before people have time to make up stupid gossip.” Severus added.

Jo beamed at their comments. “Alright Kingsley, is that it? We have to get to Gringotts today too.”

“Of course, of course.” Getting out of his seat and walking around to his guests. “Send me a list of people you want to invite to this meeting and I’ll send the invitations out with a demand that they all be there no matter what.”

“Thank you for everything Kings!” Jo said as she pulled the man into a warm hug.

“Anything for you little witch.” Giving her a quick squeeze back and looking to the men in the room.

“Gentlemen, have a good day and welcome back.” With that the group left the Minister’s office for Gringotts.

Their trip to Gringotts was fairly quick. When they got there Remus and Severus both handed over their wands and allowed the Goblins a drop of blood to prove who they were. After proof was given they were told there were some things they would need to sign. The men signed the papers that would give them their gold the ministry had agreed to pay them as war heroes, 200,000 galleons each.

All bonds are registered at the ministry automatically; the same goes for them being registered at Gringotts. So when they finish their paperwork the goblin helping them asked if Remus and Severus wanted Jo to have access to their vaults.

Before either of them got a chance to answer Jo interrupted and flatly told the goblin no. While both men looked at her like they wanted to say something to her, she just asked that they wait and discuss this another time. This trip was only so that they could get themselves settled and back to the land of the living, they could talk money logistics later. The men agreed and finish their business at the bank.

As they walked out of Gringotts, Jo cast a quick “Notice Me Not” spell on Remus and Severus so that no one would recognize them on their way to the Leaky Cauldron. Once there they went straight for the floo and headed back to Grimmauld Place.

Once they got home they headed for the library to relax after their errands. Sirius called for Gilly and asked for some tea for everyone. Before they all got too comfortable, Jo grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill asking the men to help her draft a list of names for Kingsley to invite to the meeting tomorrow.

In the end they had come up with quite a large group of people who needed to know before everyone else. The group consisted of Kingsley of course, Amelia Bones, all of the Weasleys including Bill and Charlie, Tonks, Harry and Luna, Hermione and Draco, Lucius, Neville and Hannah, and Minerva. When they could think of nobody else she sent the list to Kingsley.

Jo then broached the subject of telling Lucius and Draco before the meeting. She could owl Lucius and ask him to come over after work. Sirius had protested, saying he would find out the next day but Jo said that Lucius would be extremely hurt if he wasn't told right away. She then mentioned that Sirius would probably feel the same way if she hid Remus from him.

Severus agreed completely with Joe saying that Lucius would consider it a huge disrespect if he wasn't told right away, but if she didn't want Draco to have to lie to Hermione she probably should only tell Lucius. So she owled Lucius asking him to come to Grimmauld Place for dinner and a chat at 6:00 tonight.

She was feeling extremely drained from all the craziness this day and felt that a nap was in order. Letting the men know that it had been a trying day and that she was going to rest for a while, she went to her room and fell asleep.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the time Remus went up to get her it was 5:40pm and Lucius would be there soon. He knocked on her door and called out to her but didn’t hear anything. He knocked again and then opened the door, pausing for a moment to look around the large room before walking over to the sleeping witch. When he got to her bedside he smiled and let out a soft chuckle at the sight of her.

Jo was sprawled out on her bed lying on her stomach. She had a blanket covering one of her legs, clearly she had pulled it over herself and then while she was sleeping got hot and tried to kick it off. Thankfully her dress was still covering her lower half, sitting at the back of her knee. Her arms were crossed and she had buried her head in them, covering her face and forgoing a pillow.

He stepped up to the bed and placing a hand on her back, he started to rub soft circles as he leaned down and spoke to the sleeping witch.

“Jo…Jo…come on it’s time to get up, Lucius will be here soon.”

She stirred and grumbled something he couldn’t make out but moved her head so it was facing him and crinkling her forehead. Remus chuckled and tried again.

“Come on Josie raise and shine or I’ll have to get Sirius and he won’t be nearly as gentle as I am at waking you up.”

She rubbed her eyes and stretched before looking up at the man.

“That would just be cruel Remus.” She pouted.

He laughed at her. “Well then you better get up.” Taking his hand off her back, he held it out for her to take.

She sat up and took his hand as she scrambled out of bed, letting it go as soon as she was sturdy on her feet. She looked up at the man and smiled, neither of them speaking for a moment.

“Stay with me while I freshen up a bit? I’ll only be a moment.”

“Of course, it will give me a chance to look at your library you have up here.”

She laughed at the man and headed off to brush her teeth and hair quick.

When she came back out Remus looked up and headed her way.

“You have a lot of muggle titles here as well. That surprises me.”

“Oh well my grandfather was a half-blood so he introduced me to some of them but a lot of them I picked up in the states when I was studying there. I had a muggleborn friend who took us shopping in Muggle America a lot.”

“How much time were you in the states for? I hadn’t realized you spent more than a year or two there.”

“I was there for quite some time actually, about five years. It was the summer after everything that happened at the Tri Wizard Tournament that I came back and started doing research and reconnaissance for Dumbledore and the order.”

He had learned a lot about her today, more so than he had before he had died. But he needed to ask her a question that had him slightly worried. “May I ask you another question before we head downstairs?”

“You can ask me anything Remus.” She grabbed his hand and he followed her back over to the bed, they both sat down on the edge next to each other. “What did you want to ask me?” She had let go of his hand and was looking up at his face.

He paused a moment before looking down, saying “How do you feel about my lycanthropy?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…aren’t you scared? Worried? Bothered by it? I know what people think about werewolves. It isn’t a subject that is spoken about without hate being spewed from people’s mouths. I just wanted to know how you feel.”

Jo thought for a minute, she had met Moony one time during the war. He didn’t scare her, just was curious about her and was a little blunter than she knew Remus to be, but other than that he never bothered her or scared her.

“Remus,” she began carefully, “Do you not remember that I met Moony once?”

“What? When?” Looking absolutely appalled at the thought.

“It was nothing bad Remus. It was the day before the full moon and you were trying to rest in the library. I had come in to drop off some research for you, not realizing you were already in there. I had just placed the papers on the desk and when I turned around you were right there in front of me, staring and your eyes had changed to a gold color.”

_Flashback_

_“Oh Remus, you scared me. I didn’t know anyone else was in here.”_

_The man in front of her smirked but said nothing as he raised a hand and tucked some hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering for a moment before they left the skin of her neck. She looked into his eyes and noticed they had changed._

_“Remus, your eyes…they aren’t green anymore, their gold.”_

_“All the better to see you with my dear.” Flashing a dark smile at the girl._

_She let out a soft laugh, responding, “Did you just make a Little Red Ridinghood joke? Should a werewolf be making jokes about eating people?”_

_The wolf smirked at the girl again, tilting his head and looking at her, studying her face._

_“The human doesn’t make jokes like that.”_

_“The human…Remus what do you…” Looking back at his golden eyes again. “You’re the werewolf part, you’re Moony.”_

_Flashing his teeth in a predatory grin. “That’s right little one. Does that scare you? Being all alone with the Big Bad Wolf?” Taking a step closer, pinning her to the desk behind her._

_“Should I be?” She asked even as her voice shook a bit._

_He waited before answering the witch, watching her fidget under his gaze._

_“No little one. The human likes you too much. I won’t hurt you.” Bringing a hand up to caress her cheek softly before stepping back again._

_Blushing slightly at his words, “Well it’s nice to meet you Moony.”_

_“And you little witch.”_

_End Flashback_

“And that was it really. I had to leave so I said goodbye and he went back to the couch to lay down.”

Remus stayed quiet while he let her story sink in.

“I know it’s different when you actually transform and it’s not like I’m planning on standing next to you when you do but it doesn’t change how I feel about you. It doesn’t change the smart, funny, and incredibly sweet man who I’m around the other 353 days of the year. It’s a part of who you are Remus…and I happen to like who you are quite a bit.”

They sat quietly for a few minutes before they heard Sirius yell up the stairs for them to hurry up and come down before Lucius get there.

Jo looked over at Remus and when the man looked back at her she leaned in and placed a small kiss on his cheek. Pulling back, she looked in his eyes, smiled, then stood up beckoning him to follow her out the door and downstairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drama is coming! Who doesn't love drama?!
> 
> As always, comment away friends! Like it? Love it? Hate it? Let me hear you!


	8. Lucius’ Reaction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucius for the win.

**July 1, 2001- 5:55pm**

She was biting her nails. It was a disgusting habit but she couldn’t help it. While she had friends, the most important people were her four wizards. Two of them were her best friends: Bill and Charlie, and the other two were family: Sirius and Lucius.

Now technically she was only related to Lucius through his marriage to Narcissa but that never seemed to bother him too much. She was family and he treated her as such. He had turned out to be like that rich uncle other people seem to have. While others, especially Sirius, wouldn’t describe him as fun, she always had a lovely time with him and to be honest she adored him greatly. She never asked him to buy her anything and she was pretty sure that that was why he kept buying things for her. Underneath his snooty aristocratic outside was a devoted family man who would do anything for those he found worthy of his time.

And she was slightly worried he would be disappointed that she had found herself in this mess.

“Alright, are you two ready to go in the hallway?”

“Is this really necessary Josephine?” Severus asked her.

“You know it is Severus. I don’t want to give him a heart attack just by having you pop up out of nowhere! Who knows how he’s even going to react to this.”

Severus walked over to her and put his hands on both her shoulders. Looking her in the eye he spoke softly, “Everything is going to be fine. Lucius will be fine. Don’t worry Little Witch.”

She had a quick flash of Severus calling her that a long time ago but before she could respond to him it was time.

“You two should get in the hallway; he’ll be here any second.” Sirius said as he pointed to the grandfather clock which read 5:59.

Severus gave her shoulders a quick squeeze and walked out the door with Remus. As soon as the door closed they heard the floo fire up and out came Lucius Malfoy.

Some said that the Malfoys had veela blood in them, it was just a rumor but looking at them, how could you not believe it. Lucius was tall, another man that was over six feet in height. His height combined with his pale skin, white blond hair, and gray eyes made one very attractive wizard. His traditional robes were dark but not entirely black as this set had gold and even dark green on it. The cane he used, solely for appearances, was black and the head of the cane, it was mostly used to concealed his wand. Ever the Slytherin, but she supposed to that was more to tick off Sirius than anything else.

She sent a beaming smile at the man as soon as he laid eyes on her and he immediately walked over and engulfed her in a warm embrace. She giggled and buried her face in his chest for a moment.

Looking down at the tiny witch, he smiled, “How are you my Little Pet?” He pulled back slightly so he could lean down and place a kiss to her forehead.

She smiled up at him as they released themselves from their hug. “I’m good Lu, how are you? I’ve missed you. I’m so happy your back home from that awful business trip. You were gone far too long.” The two walked over to where Sirius was sitting in one of the chairs and sat on the couch.

“Yes well the Russians need a firm hand when it comes to negotiations so I thought it best to go myself.” He paused and looked over at Sirius, acknowledging him with a slight nod. “Black.”

“Malfoy.”

Turning back to Jo, “You said we needed to talk Pet, I hope nothing is wrong.”

Jo bit her lip and looked down for a moment, worry etched across her face. “It’s nothing bad, per-se…but….umm well…”

Lucius put a finger under her chin lifted it slightly so she was facing him again, then he cupped her cheek. “What is it Josephine? You can tell me, whatever it is.”

Slowly she told him. “Without me knowing, Sirius preformed a soul bonding ritual on me.” She paused when saw Lucius glance at Sirius eyes burning with rage. As he looked back at Jo, his eyes softened at her worried look.

“It’s okay Pet, keep going.” He encouraged.

“At first it didn’t work but in the morning I accidently stepped on the runes and well it did what it was supposed to. And I’m now soul bonded…. To two people. Two people who used to be dead. The bond brought them back.”

“Who? Who did it bring back?” Lucius asked, with a slight edge to his voice.

Her voice was so small it was nearly a whisper but he heard her anyway. “Remus Lupin and Severus Snape.”

At that moment Sirius flicked his wand at the door and in walked in the two men in question.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It would be a correct statement to say that Lucius was shocked. However, the casual observer would never know. The only clue he gave was the slight widening of his eyes before he quickly schooled his features.

He stared at the two men for a long time, Severus in particular. He said nothing, merely walking over to the man in question surveying him. Finally his curiosity got the better of him.

“Prove it.”

Severus leaned forward and whispered in his ear his statement of proof. If Remus, with his heightened senses, heard anything he had the good sense not to say anything at the moment.

Lucius took a step back and sneered slightly at the man. “I supposed that proves it.” Looking at Remus, “I assume they made sure you are who you’re supposed to be.”

“That they did. Good to see you again Lucius.”

“And you Lupin.” He gave the man a slight nod.

“Well this calls for a Firewhisky!” Sirius clapped his hands and began to stand up.

Lucius’ head snapped to him, “You, Black, are even slimier than I could imagine. How could you perform that ritual on Josephine?! There’s a reason people don’t perform that spell very often anymore. She could have ended up with someone she didn’t know. Someone she didn’t trust or someone who was already married. What the hell were you thinking?!” He stalked over to Sirius as he spoke stopping right in front of him, both of them toe to toe.

“Lu please…” Jo begged but her plea was unheard as Sirius yelled back at Lucius.

“Oh piss off Malfoy! I was thinking that she needed to be happy. I was thinking that MY sister would want someone to be happy with! And look what happened? We got Remus and even Snivellus back! So why don’t you just back the fuck off, get off your pompous little pedestal, and admit that you are happy with the results.”

“Stop it Sirius!” Jo tried again to get their attention but was again ignored by the two.

“Admit that I’m happy?! Are you out of your mind?! You just got lucky that it ended up being two people we know and trust. It could have been anyone and you would have just handed her over to them. All because you got a crazy idea and didn’t think your decision through!”

“ENOUGH!” Jo shouted as she squeezed between Sirius and Lucius, putting a hand on each of their chests and pushing them both back slightly. “Please, both of you, stop yelling.”

She turned herself completely so she was facing Lucius and placed her other hand on his chest as well. Her fingers clutched his robe slightly as she looked up, her eyes pleading with him to listen.

“Lu, I already yelled at Sirius. I told him how upset I was and that I hadn’t asked for this. He’s sorry. He knows what he did was wrong.” Then she pulled on him to turn and face the two other men. “But how can stay angry when this is the result? Severus would still be gone if this hadn’t of happened. As would Remus. What Sirius did was wrong, I’m not denying that, but I can’t stay angry when I’m not upset about the results. Please Lu.” She ended her speech by wrapping her arms around his waist and looking up at him with her big gray eyes.

“Oh Little Pet, for you, of course. I don’t like how this was done. I’m not happy about it at all. But I have to agree with you, the result was more than satisfactory.”

She beamed at him and squeezed him tight, which he returned fully.

It was Remus who chimed in next. “Why don’t we give Severus and Lucius some time alone? Let them get reacquainted. We can go to chat in the kitchen and they can join us for dinner when they’re done.”

While Sirius bolted out the door before Remus was even done speaking, Jo looked up to Lucius for agreement to this idea.

“Yes Pet, I would very much like a moment alone with Severus. Don’t fret we’ll be down to dinner shortly.”

She nodded and walked over to Remus taking his offered hand. She looked back briefly at the two Slytherins, giving them a quick smile, and then turned out the door closing it behind her.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So, back from the dead?” Lucius drawled. Both men sat on the couch and with a flick of his wand Lucius had the Firewhisky pouring and sent a glass both of their ways.

“It seems so,” Severus replied.

“And how do you feel about that my friend?” He sent Severus a knowing glance.

Heaving a large sigh Severus ran a hand through his hair and shook his head slightly. “I really don’t know. I was prepared to die. I knew it was going to happen. I was ready to die. And now all of a sudden, three years later, I’m just supposed to be back…to be alive again like nothing happened! And on top of that I’m bonded, with another person, to a witch who’s about ten years younger than me, is an old student, and is now apparently a Black!” Cursing slightly as he finished his rant.

“And someone you used to have feelings for.”

Severus’ head snapped toward the blond man, his eyes glaring at him.

“You forget we talked about her when you were alive. Your little pen pal.”

“That was a long time ago Lucius. I doubt she remembers or cares. Besides, that was all over the minute I killed the old man.”

“Ah, but you’ve been vindicated. Potter told all when it came to those memories you gave him. We all know that he made you do that so you could save Draco.”

“That doesn’t change anything.”

“Of course it does! Don’t be foolish.”

“I’m not foolish! She likely hates me for what I did, for all the things I have done. I’m not a pleasant man Lucius and I’m well aware of that. How is this bond going to work if she’s stuck with me?” Finishing his whisky in one gulp and slamming the cup on the table in front of him.

“Severus, Josephine is not that kind of person. She does not hate without a reason. She has no reason to hate you and is likely very happy your back. As for your lack of social niceties, you can work on that. Now that you aren’t serving two masters and performing horrible tasks on a daily basis, you can choose the man you want to be and how to act. Severus, you get a second chance at life. Be happy and live how you want… just be sure that you make her happy too.”

Severus was quiet for some time after that thinking about all that Lucius had to say. Then finally he spoke.

“I’m going to kill Black.”

“Well _that_ I won’t be too heartbroken over. But you have given any thought to your bigger problem?”

“And what would that be?”

“That you and Lupin will need to consummate your bonds with her. Soon.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Meanwhile in the Kitchen_

“Where’d Sirius go?” Remus asked Jo as they entered the kitchen, only to find Gilly working on dinner.

“Probably moping after being yelled at,” rolling her eyes, “if he doesn’t come back by dinner I’ll go looking for him.” They walk over to the table and sit down with Jo at the head and Remus on her right.

“I agree with what you said by the way. I don't agree that Sirius should have done this without your permission but I can't say that I don't like the results.” He smiled softly at the young woman.

“I get that Remus, I really do and that's why I'm really not that mad anymore.” She sigh heavily and then continued, “However, Lucius was right too. I know soul bonding makes it so that you're with someone compatible but that doesn't mean that everything's going to be easy. But having you and Severus alive again… I don't really know how to describe how it makes me feel.”

“I can't speak for Severus but I do hope you know that being bonded to you is not a bad thing in my book.”

“That's a very sweet thing to say Remus.” Smiling as she fiddles with her hands.

“Well it's the truth,” he smirked at her.

“To be honest I'm nervous. I have a past with both of you, more than just an acquaintance or friendship with both of you. Those feelings I had before aren't gone, but three years is a long time, and I think I'm just feeling really overwhelmed right now.” She confessed to the man sitting next to her.

Reaching over to her Remus grabbed her two hands in his, gave them a squeeze and looked her in the eyes. “There's no need to rush anything. I know we have a deadline for consummating the bond but that doesn't mean things have to happen tonight or tomorrow or even in this week. We do have time and you should know that we're just as nervous as you are. We’re just better at concealing it, especially Severus.” She laughed at his comment and gave his hands a quick squeeze before pulling them away.

“I'm not so sure about Severus being nervous or even you for that matter but thank you Remus; you did make me feel a little better about all of this.”

Both of them were silent for a moment before Jo suddenly remembered something.

“Oh I just remembered I don't know if Sirius already told you or if you already know somehow but you just missed a full moon. It happened about 4 days ago. So it'll give us about three weeks until another full moon.”

Remus sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, “I figured it must be pretty far away. When it's close the wolf can sense it and he gets more agitated. But right now everything feels calm so I figured we had some time.”

“Well if you need help preparing or anything, I'll help you as much as I can.”

“Thank you Josephine.”

At the pause in their conversation Gilly piped in to say that dinner was ready before she popped off to inform the others. Jo flicked her wand at the cabinets and the dishes, silverware, and glasses glided over to their places on the table.

As the last dish fell into place, Severus and Lucius enter the room followed shortly by Sirius. Severus sat to the right of Jo with Lucius on his other side and Sirius sat on the other side of Remus. Once everyone was settled the food that Gilly prepared appeared on the table and they all tucked in to eat.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

During dinner they explained to Lucius their plan in regards to tomorrow's meeting, along with who would be attending. Jo also mentioned that she would be giving an interview so that the facts could be given to the public before they could start in with false gossip.

After that Lucius mentioned to Severus that all of his belongings where in Spinner’s End. He was able to get into Spinner’s End after Severus’ death and made sure that one of his house else went there every other week to air out, dust, and clean the place. He really wasn't sure what to do with Severus' belongings but he didn't want to just get rid of them. This reminded Sirius that he had Remus’ belongings in the attic. Since Remus lived at Grimmauld Place before he died Sirius had simply ask Gilly to pack up his things and put them away. Sirius called Gilly and ask her organize Remus’ things in his room and Lucius called one of his house elves to get whatever Severus needed from Spinners end. He decided that he could go in the next couple days so he only elected for the elf to bring his clothing and a few other items.

The rest of their dinner conversation was pretty light. Lucius talked about his business and Draco's relationship with Hermione, Severus and Remus asked a few more questions about things that have happened in the last 3 years, but the unfortunate turn of the conversation happened when Sirius made a snide comment about Severus.

This of course set off a series of comments being thrown back and forth across the table from all the men. To Remus’ credit, he did _try_ to calm the situation down before getting involved. It was only when Jo stood up that they all stop talking long enough to ask her what she was doing. She politely informed them that she had a headache and needed some air, with that she exited the kitchen and walked out the door to the backyard.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Jo stepped outside the last sliver of light was starting to fade away from the sky. She could see freckles of stars in the sky and the moon shinning bright.

The backyard to Grimmauld Place was just a grassy area. When they redecorated the house, the backyard was the least of their concerns, so they decided to simply cut, pull, or demolish anything that was back there, save for a few trees.

She started pacing the yard, going down to the far end and then walking back up towards the house. She had done this about five times before Lucius joined her outside. He walked with her in silence for a few minutes simply holding her hand in the crook of his arm. Finally she spoke.

“I'm scared,” she told him.

He patted the top of her hand and glanced down at her. “I know you are Pet, but everything will work out just fine.”

“How can you say that Lucius!? You saw them in there! The way you all behaved in there. How am I supposed to have a bond with two people that don't even like each other? With a brother who hates half of my bond?”

They stop walking and she pulled away to look at his face. “How am I going to make this work for all of us?”

He looked down at her with a soft smile. “You aren't in this bond alone Josephine. Severus and Remus are there to help and work just as hard to make this good between you three. Yes, the two of them were never friends in school but that was mostly because of their friends. The two of them have a lot more in common than either of them realize. But they will come to realize that working together is going to be better for you than working apart, that starting fights is going to push you away, not pull you to their side.”

She looked down at the ground before she replied to him. “I have to consummate the bond before the month is up...but I don't want to just hop into bed with them.”

Lucius placed a hand on her cheek and tilted her head back up to face him. “Then don't, Pet. No one is going to make you have sex with them before you're ready.” Then he smiled at her with a wicked gleam in his eye. “What you need to do is make them woo you.”

“Woo me?” Sending him a questioning look.

“Yes!” he shouted. “Make them work for it. Make them take you on out, talk to you, buy you pretty things. Make them treat you like they would if they didn't have a timeline for consummating with you.”

“You think I should?”

“I think that you're in charge of this more than you realize. Tell them that's what you want. Tell them that that’s what is going to happen.”

She smiled and nodded at him. “I do like being in charge.”

Lucias chuckled at the girl’s statement. “I know you do, love. Now let's get inside. I haven't heard you play for a long time, you can play me something pretty in thanks for my excellent advice.”

The two walk inside and head straight to the library. Lucius sits down in a chair by the fireplace while Jo walks over to a piano.

At first she's simply messes around on the keys. Playing scales and just getting her fingers worked out. Then she begins playing for Lucius. Prelude in C major by JS Bach, one of his favorites, then Waltz in C sharp minor by Chopin, and finally Nocturne in E flat major another Chopin.

Her playing is flawless. She moves seamlessly with each piece, her fingers grazing over the keys as she plays. She was completely immersed in her own playing that she didn't even hear Severus, Remus, and Sirius walk into the library to listen to her play.

Only when she finished with the last piece and heard clapping did she look up and noticed they were all there. She blushed under their attention and gave them a slight bow of her head, ending her impromptu concert for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awww like a big blond teddy bear! Love it. Hope you did too!


	9. The Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How will everyone react?

**July 2, 2001**

She slept hard last night. Not only did she not wake up at all in the middle of the night but she also was able to sleep until 9:00 this morning, a record for her.

Jo called for Gilly and asked for a very large coffee with cream and sugar. She needed to be awaken her brain; there was so much going on today and so much she needed to think over.

A cup appeared on her bedside table just how she liked it. Taking three big gulps, and burning her throat a little, Jo set it back down and cast a stasis charm over it so she could start getting ready for the day.

Gliding to the bathroom Jo quickly turned on the taps to the bath filling her tub with hot steamy water. As she sunk in she sighed and started to relax, giving herself a minute to just soak in the nice water before she started washing her hair. While she was sitting she thought about everything that occurred the night before and about the meeting that was scheduled in just two hours.

She wasn't lying when she told Remus that she was feeling overwhelmed about her feelings towards him and Severus.

Before Severus had killed Dumbledore she and the potions Master had been fairly close. They had spent the years she was out of Hogwarts writing to each other while she was studying her Mastery in America. What started out as a quick question for her old professor became years of letters. Then when she came back and joined the order they continued their friendship, even if it was a little awkward at first.

While they never let anyone else know about how close they were because of Severus' position as a spy, she cherished the moments she got to have with him. It was the last time she saw him that he kissed her. A week later Dumbledore was dead and Severus was found to be the one who killed him. It had broken her heart because while she didn't want to believe it, there had been witnesses so there was no denying what happened.

During that next year was when she started working even more closely with Remus. They researched, experimented, and gathered information for the order. They saw each other almost on a daily basis. It was during that time that she met Moony who seemed to take a strange liking to her.

Then the day before the final battle took place Remus kissed her in the library. He died during the battle and she was once again alone.

So right now her heart was overwhelmed by having the two men that she had feelings for three years ago pop back into her life.

They had a month to sort their feelings out before they would be forced to consummate the bond. What if it wasn't enough time? While she was no virgin she certainly didn't want to just sleep with them because the rules of the bond said she had to. However, she would have to wait to worry about this because right now the most pressing problem was the meeting.

Kingsley had sent Jo an owl late last night letting her know that everyone would be attending with the exception of Bill and Charlie. However she already knew the two of them wouldn't be able to come because they had sent their own letters to her.

The letters she got from the two men made her heart soar. While both of them were extremely shocked by what happened and more than a little peeved at Sirius, they both said what a good thing this could be for her and offered any advice they could. But aside from her two best friends opinions she was a little worried about how everyone else would take the situation.

While she pretty sure Draco and Minerva would be happy, she was less than certain of everybody else's reactions, especially Molly Weasley's.

While Molly may be pleased to see the men, that wasn't really what she was worried about. The woman had a penchant for making Jo's life miserable. She hated Joe when she was in school with Bill and Charlie and continued to hate her while she was working with the order.

It all stems from the fact that she thought Joe had had sex with the boys while they were in school. She called Jo a ‘scarlet woman’ on more than one occasion, but her two best friends had always been there to back her up and continue to be friends with her even though their mother didn't approve. But without Bill and Charlie at the meeting, Jo was unsure what the woman would do. Hopefully things would go better than she thought.

Shaking herself from her musings, she quickly washed her hair and body before exiting the tub. Jo then completed the rest of her morning routine, deciding to leave her hair down today, and got changed for the meeting. Choosing to go with flesh-colored under things she put on a short sleeve white button-up blouse, her purple plaid skinny trousers, and a pair of black pumps. She grabbed her wand, vanished her cup of coffee, and headed down to the kitchen.

As she entered the kitchen Severus was the only one there. He was reading the morning edition of the Daily Prophet when she walked in.

“Good morning Severus” she said as she walked past him to get a glass of pumpkin juice and a plate. When she turned around she saw that he was staring at her before he quickly shook himself out of his stupor and responded.

“Good morning Josephine.”

She smirked to herself knowing that she had just caught him staring at her arse, _these pants were a good decision_ , before she flashed him I smile and sat down across from him.

“May I?” Pointing to the plate in the middle of the table full of toast.

Pushing the plate slightly closer to her he responded, “Of course.”

She reached for the jam and quickly spread it on a piece before taking a bite. They sat in compatible silence for a while before Severus asked her how she was feeling about the meeting.

“Well I’m a bit nervous to how everyone is going to react.”

“The only people that really matter are the ones closest to you.”

“I suppose that's true. Lucius already knows and is happy, Draco will be happy to see you again, and Bill and Charlie are fine with everything so if anybody else is on our side it'll just be a bonus.”

“How do Bill and Charlie already know?” Raising an eyebrow after the young witch.

“I sent them each a letter when I sent the letter to Kingsley yesterday.”

“And you didn't tell anyone you did this?”

“No. But I wasn't trying to be sneaky. I just needed someone to talk to. I knew they would help me calm down and tell me everything was going to be okay.”

“You couldn't have talked to one of us?” Sounding slightly annoyed with her.

“I needed an outsider perspective, a perspective that wasn't bias towards one of my bond mates or the other. In this house that's hard to come by.”

Waiting a moment before he responded, “I suppose I can understand that.”

“Anyway they're fine with it; in fact they think it's actually pretty great that the three of us are bonded together. Don't ask me why, they didn't elaborate but I am happy that they're on my side.”

As she's finished speaking Remus and Sirius walked into the kitchen and said they're good mornings.

“Remus, you and Severus finish eating quickly and then I think you two should head to the bedroom across from the library.”

“Why?” Asked Sirius.

“Because if anybody shows up early we don't want to have to explain them before the meaning starts.”

Both of the wizards agreed and they finished eating quickly, heading for the spare room. It was a good thing too because at 10:40 Harry and Luna showed up. Harry wanted to know what was going on but even Sirius wouldn't tell him, stating that Kingsley wanted to have a meeting and that he had simply offered Grimmauld Place to host. He seemed skeptical but accepted the answer and escorted his wife into the dining room to wait for the rest to show up.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a full house, everybody besides Bill Charlie and Ginny who ended up being sick was there. Twenty people all sitting around the dining room table. They had to put an extension charm on the dining room and the table in order to fit everybody.

Jo sat at one head of the table with two empty seats one on either side of her. On her right side was Remus' empty seat, Sirius, Harry, Luna, Ron, George, Fred, Molly, and Arthur. On her left side was Severus’ has empty seat, Lucius, Draco, Hermione, Neville, Hannah, Minerva, Tonks, and Amelia, with Kingsley taking his spot at the other head of the table.

Light snacks and drinks where are placed around the table and everyone was chatting, waiting to hear whatever the news was. At 11:00 precisely Kingsley started the meeting.

“Thank you everyone for being present today. I know some of you were a little worried when you got my invitation but let me assure you that the news about to be shared is nothing bad. The Wizarding World has been thriving these past three years and there's nothing to be too concerned about. The news you're going to hear is one will bring all of us even more happiness… With that being said, instead of prolonging this for dramatics sake, why don't we tell you what's going on. Josephine if you could share your story.”

Jo got up from her place at the table and looked out to the small crowd of people, taking a calming breath before beginning.

“I'm afraid if I get into a too lengthy explanation I'll lose some of you,” giving a pointed look to Fred and George who smiled innocently at her. “So I'm going to just tell you what happened and if you want more details I can provide them later. Yesterday Sirius performed a soul bonding ritual for me.”

A few of the women had soft gasps and looked toward Sirius who was pointedly not looking at anybody in the room. “However when he performed the ritual I wasn't with him and he didn't think it worked. After I woke up I went into the library and I accidentally stepped on the runes from where he did the ritual. This caused the ritual to finish and as a result I am now soul bonded.”

Before she could say anything else Molly Weasley interrupted. “What does this have to do with any of us? We have lives, we're not here for some poor bonding announcement.”

When Lucius went to respond Jo shook her head slightly and turn to answer the redhead herself. “The reason you're all here is because I soul bonded with not one but two wizards.”

It was Minerva who spoke up this time. “While that doesn't happen too often and is really great news for you dear, what does that mean for us? I know Kingsley wouldn't have called a meeting if it wasn't something bigger than that.”

“You're right Minerva. It is something bigger than just that. The two wizards I'm soul bonded to where dead before the bonding ceremony.”

Now there were several audible gasps from the crowd and everyone started talking all at once wanting to know what was going on and who was back from the dead.

Kingsley's voice boomed over everybody, “Calm down everyone. Let her finish and you'll find out what's going on.” He paused and waited for the crowd to calm themselves. “Go ahead Josephine.”

She looked at the crowd for a moment and finally said, “Severus Snape and Remus Lupin are my bonds mates.”

It was at that moment, when everyone was still in shock, that Kingsley opened the door with his wand and the men in question walked in. Without really looking at anyone else both men walked to the head of the table where Jo was and stood on either side of her.

And then the comments started.

“Ww..what the bloody hell?!” stammered Ron.

“Wicked!” shouted the twins.

“Severus! Remus! Oh, oh my goodness!” sputtered Minerva.

“That's impossible!” shrieked Molly.

“Wotcher Remus, Professor.” exclaimed Tonks.

“Well isn't this lovely” mused Luna dreamily.

While these things were being said, well more like shouted at them, Jo took stock of the guests that were being quiet. Amelia and Arthur we're both sharing soft smiles with Kingsley which meant they already knew who was back, Kingsley probably told them after the meeting. Hannah and Neville were quiet as well but she suspected that was just because they were nervous. Hermione looked happy but was looking at Draco waiting for his reaction. And Harry… well she couldn't quite place the reaction he was having. He looked very blank like he was trying to decide how he wanted to feel about this.

Finally, Draco stood up walked over to Severus without saying anything. When he got in front of the man he threw his arms around him in a back breaking hug. Severus staggered a little bit but brought his arms around the boy, patting him on the back. Draco eventually let go and with a grin told his godfather he was happy he was back before going back to sit next to Hermione, who beamed at the two men.

Then Kingsley asked for everyone to calm down and for Jo, Severus, and Remus to sit.

“They've done nothing wrong. Just as Jo couldn't pick who she was bonded with, Severus and Remus had no choice and coming back. It's very rare but it is possible for a soul bonding ritual to bring someone back from the dead. In this case, it just so happened to bring two people back. And might I just add that I'm very happy the two of them are among the living again.” There was a pause among the crowd as they took in what Kingsley was saying to them.

Jo looked to Remus and then Severus giving them a nervous smile, just waiting for someone to say something. Unfortunately someone did start talking and even more unfortunately that someone was Molly.

“What will people think? A witch with two wizards that's just immoral! I know Bill and Charlie won't be pleased about this.” Sneering at Jo as she spoke.

“Bill and Charlie have already given me their full support Molly.” Jo said in an even tone.

“They aren't even here! How would they know what's going on!? You don't know what you're talking about.”

“Molly,” the girl began with a sigh, “They sent me a letter yesterday. I can go get it and show you. Both of them have given me their full support, like they always have.”

Arthur interrupted Molly's retort. “It's true Molly the boys sent me a letter telling me that they're supportive of this and happy for Josephine.” He turned to the girl and gave her a small smile.

“But he's a Death Eater!” Ron nearly shouted at his father.

“Ronald!” admonished Hermione, “You know very well that Professor Snape was cleared of everything because of his role as a spy. He was given an order of Merlin! Kingsley doesn't just hand those out.”

“Oh so that's supposed to make all those years he was so horrible to us go away? All those years he was an evil dungeon bat?!” As he spoke Ron’s face became redder and redder, almost matching his hair.

“Oh no Ickle Ronnikin got his feelings hurt.” said Fred.

“Now he's going to throw a temper tantrum.” said George.

“Oh piss off you two you know I'm right! All those times he took away points, wasn't fair, and a cruel bastard to everyone, people don't just forget those things. Why the hell would fate bring _you_ back from the dead?!”

It was Jo’s turn to gasp she couldn't believe what she had just heard coming from Ron's mouth. Severus had a role to play and he played it well. She knew he was still snarky, blunt, and could be full of rage but to say he didn't deserve to be alive was just cruel.

“Mr. Weasley if you think ...” but his sentence was cut off by Jo placing her hand over his and shaking her head slightly. For a moment he looked like he was going to ignore her but instead he turned his hand over and grasped her hand lightly.

That's when Hermione stepped in.

“Ronald, how dare you say something like that! You know very well that Professor Snape was a double agent. He couldn’t afford to be showing favoritism to the wrong side. Somebody would have eventually figured it out and he would have been killed. He saved our lives more times than we can count. And if you do so remember he's the reason you were able to join Harry and I in The Forest of Dean _again_.” Narrowing her eyes at the young man as she continued her verbal spanking of him.

“He was in the middle of dying and gave Harry the memories that were key to us winning the war and defeating Voldemort! No one cares if you personally like or dislike him so keep your opinions to yourself!”

When she finished Draco grabbed her hand and gave her knuckles a kiss commenting ‘Merlin, I love you’ under his breath and then threw a smirk at Ron. Hermione looked up at Jo, who mouth ‘thank you’ to her, and she nodded back in return.

“What do you think Harry?” Ron questioned his friend, hoping to find someone on his side.

Throughout the whole event Harry have been uncharacteristically quiet. He was just sitting back taking all the information in. He sighed and took off his glasses to rub his eyes. When he place them back on he looked first to Sirius and Remus, then he looked at Severus for a moment, before turning his gaze to Jo.

Harry and Jo got along really well; they were good friends and pretty much family where Sirius was concerned. When he left and Jo began living at Grimmauld Place he was happy she’d be there to keep an eye on Sirius. Throughout the years they'd become close, often celebrating holidays with Sirius or just going out and having a good time as a group. Still, could he be okay with this even if Severus is involved? Jo wasn't too sure.

“Well Harry? Ron pressed.

Harry gave Jo a soft smile and looked right in her eyes as he spoke. “Well as much as I think this is odd, though certainly not the strangest thing that’s happened to us all, as long as Josie's happy then I have no problems. Besides, how can I complain when two of our own have come back to us?”

Jo beamed at him, and then turned to both Remus and Severus with a bright smile. Both Wizards smile back at the happiness radiating off their bond mate.

It was then that the others started getting out of their seats to come shake hands and chat with the two men, well everyone but Ron and Molly. While Remus and Severus were busy entertaining well-wishers, Jo pulled Hermione and Luna aside and told them that they needed to have a girl's night stat. Hermione wholeheartedly agreed and said she would plan everything for the following evening.

Everyone chatted for about a half an hour after that before Kingsley declare the meeting over and people started trickling out.

Jo managed to grab Hannah who was able to do the interview right away. The two girls went into the kitchen where Jo gave Hannah a much more detailed description of what had happened and answered any questions she had. Hannah told her that she had enough time to get the story written and edited for the evening edition of The Prophet and a special edition for the Quibbler so she should be prepared for the public's reaction the following day. Jo thanked Hannah for all her help and watched her leave out the door.

Even though it had already been a busy day she went to find her wizards. She had decided to follow Lucius’ advice and tell them what she wanted. Tonight she wanted to spend some time with her bond mates, alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the Weasley bashing but I don't really like Ron...he's kind of an a-hole and other fanfics have totally turned me away from Molly Weasley...sorry. 
> 
> Comments? Questions?


	10. Date Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A date and a lovely chat.

**July 2, 2001**

“I want to go on a date tonight.” Jo announced her request as she walked into the library. Seated there were Remus, Severus, and surprisingly Harry and Draco, who stayed to spend time with the two recently returned.

At her announcement at her announcement Remus and Severus looked slightly confused, Harry snorted into his glass, and Draco sent her a knowing smirk. Sirius coughed and sprayed out the firewhisky he had just taken a drink of.

“WHAT?!” Taking a trying breath and coughing a bit more before continuing, “You already have two wizards! That came back from the _dead_ for you. Why would you want to go on a date with someone?”

“I want to go on a date with them, you stupid prat.” Rolling her eyes at her brother’s reaction.

Jo walked over to the men, Sirius was in one the chairs, Harry was on the couch next to Remus, and Severus and Draco were on the loveseat. Jo sat on the other side of Remus and looked between her bond mates.

“Well?” Looking at them expectantly. The men in question shared a look before turning back to the witch.

“Not that I object but why do you want to go on a date, love?” Remus asked her.

“Well there are two reasons actually: One is that I think the three of us need to spend time together, alone and without any interruptions. Two is that we need to talk about certain aspects of our bond. There's a lot we're going to need to discuss and I just thought that going on a date, the three of us together would be the best way to do that.”

“Josephine,” Severus started “It's not that I don't want us to be able to do this with you but I don't think going out where everyone can see us is a good idea until after the paper comes out.”

“Oh! I already thought about that. I was thinking we could go to muggle London. That way we can walk around freely without worrying about running into anyone.”

“Well that certainly would take care of people seeing us.” Severus stated slowly. “You really want to do this?”

“I do.” She nodded at the wizard.

“Well then I suppose it would be fine.” The girl flashed him a smile and then turned to Remus, looking at him with expecting eyes.

“Of course, love. Anything you want.” Smiling softly at her.

“Excellent! I'll have it all planned out before we leave. Meet me in the foyer at 7 o’clock. Dress will be casual, nothing fancy.” She said as she stood up and started walking away.

“Where are you going?” Draco laughed.

“It's only two o’clock Draco, I _do_ have things to do thank you.” She answered him primly. “If anybody needs me I'll be in my study working on research for my books until I need to get ready.” Looking back at her to bond mates she added, “I'll see you both at seven.” And with that the witch glided out the door and up the stairs to her room.

Remus looked over to Severus, “What’s gotten into her?”

“I don't know...” Severus responded.

It was then that Draco chuckled softly to himself. “I know what's gotten into her.” Sending the two of them and knowing smirk.

“Well what is it?” Snapped the potions master.

“Well Godfather I heard her talking to father before he left and among some of the things he told her I distinctly heard the words ‘tell them what you want.’ He was giving her advice on how to handle the two of you.”

Sirius, Harry, and Draco all started to laugh.

Remus interrupted there little joke, “Why would he need to give her advice?”

Harry responded. “It's pretty obvious.”

“What is?”

“She's scared.”

“She scared of us?” Severus asked.

“No.” He responded firmly, “She's not scared of you, either of you; she's scared that something's going to go wrong. She's unsure of the situation she's in. Right now it probably seems like it's you two against her and she just wants to make sure that she's going to be heard and not get pushed aside.”

“As much as I hate to agree with Potter, I think he's right. Just make sure when you go on your date tonight that you show her that her opinion matters and how she feels matters. It would make her feel better if she knows she’s being heard.”

“When did the two of you become such experts on my sister?” Sirius asked in a slightly snippy tone.

“She's family.” They automatically replied.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That afternoon Jo spent her time working on her research for her charms text books. With Severus and Remus in the picture she was pretty sure she wasn't going to get as much done this summer as she thought she would. This would mean that every spare minute she had would need to be dedicated to working on these books.

It was hard to work on them during the school year as her responsibilities as a teacher came first, but she wanted to get both of the books done in the next two years and for that to happen she would need to put a lot of work into them. So for four hours that afternoon she locked herself in her room with a strong pot of tea, and slaved away on her research.

Before she started working she asked Gilly to alert her when it was six so she would have plenty of time to get ready for her date. At six o’clock on the dot Gilly popped into her study and shooed Jo away from her desk so that she could get ready.

She quickly showered and dried her hair. Trying to keep things casual for her date, she pulled her black hair back into a low ponytail, keeping a few tendrils out to frame her face.

Generally, she never wore a lot of makeup and that wasn't about to change tonight. She had decided that she would simply frame her face by filling in her eyebrows, putting mascara on her lashes, and finally adding a bright pink matte lipstick called electric orchid.

Her outfit was simple and casual but still nice. She wore navy blue trousers that clung to her every curve. She also wore a white thin strapped tank top with a scalloped neckline, white lacy under things, a pair of nude flats, and her white purse. She placed a glamour charm on her tattoo for the night and then headed downstairs for her big date.

As she walked down the last flight of stairs to the foyer she noticed her to bond mates waiting for her. They looked amazing.

Remus was wearing a short-sleeved forest green button up shirt, with a pair of jeans and brown shoes. Severus was wearing a gray button up long sleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, black jeans, and black shoes. It was funny to her because for two men who like to think they’re so different they had dressed fairly similar, they both even didn't button the top two buttons of their shirts!

She bit her bottom lip and continued to walk down the last couple of stairs as both men turned to look at her.

“You both look great and very much ready for muggle London.” Smiling at both of them as she spoke.

“You look wonderful Josephine.”

“Yes I agree with Severus, you look delightful this evening.”

The witch's cheeks blushed a bright shade of pink before she mumbled a thank you and headed for the door.

They all stepped outside and after the door closed she grabbed both men's hands. Looking up at them she said “Ready?”, and before they could reply she apperated away.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She apperated them to an ally in muggle London. When the three of them I got their bearings she promptly let go of their hands and started heading down into the busy sidewalk and both wizards followed her quickly.

She looked at both of them and smiled, as both of them had vaguely nervous looks on their faces.

“No need to be nervous gentlemen we're just going to a pub down the street.”

Both of them relaxed slightly and she laughed at them. “I told you it would be casual. We're going to the pub for dinner and then I thought we could take a walk around the park that's nearby. Just a simple night.”

“Perfect,” said Remus and Severus nodded his agreement.

A few minutes later they had arrived at a nondescript looking pub where they grabbed a booth in the corner and settled in for their dinner. Their waitress came quickly bring them all a glass of water and took their drink orders. Jo ordered a glass of sweet white wine and both men ordered whiskey on the rocks.

They made small talk amongst themselves until the waitress returned and took their orders. Jo and Severus ordered fish and chips while Remus ordered shepherd's pie.

After the second round of drinks and as they were finishing their food Jo quickly cast a ‘noticed me knot’ and a silencing charm so that they could talk about everything they needed to without worrying that anyone would hear them.

“So ... I think we should talk about some things. There's a lot of logistics we should probably talk about.” She shifted nervously as she was talking from her position between the two men.

“Well,” both of them turned slightly to her, “What did you have in mind?” Remus asked.

“Well I think one thing we need to talk about it where we're going to live. I was hoping we could stay at Grimmauld Place for a little while before making any big changes to our living situation.” As she said this she peered over at Severus.

The man in question sighed heavily before he responded. “I have no problem with us staying there for awhile Josephine. There's no reason we should make any drastic changes as we're all just at the very beginning of this.”

“Are you sure you're going to be comfortable there? I don't want you to be uncomfortable. I know you and Sirius don't get along and it's already been a tense two days.”

He noticed she looked slightly worried that she was speaking like she was waiting for him to tell her he hated being there with her so he gently grasped her left hand in his hands. “Josephine, I promise I will attempt to be more… civil… towards Black. I don't want you to be upset because of my actions. I may not like him but that's my problem not yours.”

“I just want you to be happy to Severus. This is your second chance at life and I don't want you to be miserable because we could easily not live there.”

“No. There's no reason for us to leave. There's plenty of space and we will all make do just fine. We are all adults, we’ll learn to live together.” He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before pulling his hands away.

“Remus, you're okay at Grimmauld Place, right?”

“Yes of course. It helps that it has everything I need for Moony when he shows up and I'll try and run more interference with Sirius.”

“Thank you Remus. I know the both of you aren't close,” she said looking between the two men, “but I am hoping that all three of us are going to be able to get along.”

Before Remus could answer Severus responded. “It’ll take time but I'm sure Lupin and I can learn to move past our shared history.”

“I agree with Severus, it's not going to happen overnight but just like we're going to work on our relationship with you, we will work on our relationship with each other.”

“Thank you, both of you.”

“What else did you want to talk about?” Severus questioned.

“Well as you both know I'm the Charms Professor at Hogwarts. School starts the first of September and that means I'll be leaving Grimmauld Place to be there. Now because we're bonded, I could get us one of the family living spaces at the school and we could be there together, but I won't force you to come to school with me. It also depends on what you want to do with your life. I want you to do to be able to do whatever it is you want.”

Both men were quiet for a moment. Remus started quietly, “I really haven't given any thought to it yet. I don't think I've even really adjusted to being back. However, maybe we could do it this way. As of right now let's plan to all go to Hogwarts at the start of the school year. We’ll be with you whether you are at Hogwarts or at Grimmauld Place during breaks. If something changes in the meantime then we'll talk about it, but for right now we all go to Hogwarts when the term begins.”

He looked at Severus as he was finishing speaking. “Is that okay Severus?”

“Yes I'm agreeable to that. It's far too early for me to know what I want to do with the second chance we were given… Is there anything else you wanted to speak about?”

Joe blushed and began wringing her hands together. As she started to speak she could not bring herself to look up at either for bond mates. With a slight shake to her voice she said, “I guess the last thing we need to talk about is consummating the bond.”

Both men look at each other over Jo's head, remembering the conversation they had with the other men in the library.

“How do you want to proceed Josephine? We can take this as slow or as fast as you want. We may have a timeline but that doesn't mean we don't have any time.”

She took a deep breath and forced herself to look at the both of them. “I'm not a virgin, far from it. I’m just… I'm nervous about having a timeline to when we must have sex. It just seems like a lot of pressure.”

“Lupin is right Josephine, we have time and we can use all the time up to the very last day if you want.”

She smiled slightly. “I'm not saying we have to wait till the last day but I don't want to just jump into bed with both of you. I would like to keep doing this.” She gestured to the room. “I want to go on dates with you both, together and individually. I want to get to know you both again. Is that okay?”

“That sounds perfect.” Remus commented.

“Yes I believe that will work just fine.” Severus added.

“Excellent. I think I'm done with my concerns for now. Are you two ready to go to the park?”

They both nodded and Jo released the notice me not and silencing charms. The waitress came over and Jo paid for their meal.

They left and she took them to the small park where they walked around for some time. During their walk Jo had taken Severus' arm on her left side and was holding hands with Remus on her right. They continued like this for some time before they decided to head back home. She looked around for anyone who might notice them and then apperated them back to Grimmauld Place.

While the two men were going to go into the library Jo decided to call it a night. When they got to the first floor they paused outside the library doors and Jo turned to them.

She made a decision to give them both a good night kiss. After all they only have thirty days until they had to consummate the bond, and this would already be the end of day two.

The problem, however, with taking the initiative in kissing and being so short was that she would have to hope they would get the picture and meet her halfway. She walked over to Remus first. When she was standing in front of him she placed her hands on his chest to steady herself as she rose up on her toes. 

Thankfully Remus got the hint and leaned down towards her. She raised her left hand and placed it on his cheek as she placed a gentle kiss on his lips. It was a simple kiss but his kiss was warm and almost tasted sweet. When she stepped back, she could see that Remus was as affected as she was by the kiss and she smiled before turning to Severus.

She took a few steps over to him and repeated her actions, placing her hands on his chest, but before she had a chance to raise herself up she found Severus leaning down to her. His hands came to both sides of her face as his lips came in contact with hers. Their kiss too was simple and while some would think Severus' lips would be thin and hard, they would be wrong; his lips were soft and inviting. 

As he released her face and she took a step back they saw her eyes had darkened slightly with desire and her face was flushed from even their simple kisses.

She shook herself slightly, coming back to reality and bid both of them good night before hurrying up the stairs to her room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that is all I have so far. I will try to post more when I have it done but I really just want to get a feeling of how this is going. The smut is coming I promise! I just kind of want to check in how people feel with the direction I've gone before I write a ton more.
> 
> What's to come: girls night, dates alone, dates together, working things out, some outside trouble, etc...
> 
> Let me know what you think! <3


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